On the evolution and run-up of breaking solitary waves on a mild sloping beach

Abstract This paper presents new laboratory experiments carried out in a supertank (300 m × 5 m × 5.2 m) of breaking solitary waves evolution on a 1:60 plane beach. The measured data are employed to re-examine existing formulae that include breaking criterion, amplitude evolution and run-up height. The properties of shoreline motion, underwater particle velocity and scale effect on run-up height are briefly discussed. Based on our analyses, it is evidently found that there exist five zones during a wave amplitude evolution course on the present mild slope. A simple formula which is capable of predicting maximum run-up height for a breaking solitary wave on a uniform beach with a wide range of beach slope (1:15–1:60) is also proposed. The calculated results from the present model agree favorably with available laboratory data, indicating that our method is compatible with other predictive models.