Resumen
Slides generating impulse waves are currently generated using either block models or free granular material impacting a water body. These procedures were mainly developed to study plane impulse waves, i.e., wave generation in a rectangular channel. The current VAW, ETH Zurich, research is directed to the spatial impulse wave features, i.e., waves propagating in a wave basin. The two wave generation mechanisms mentioned above complicate this process for various reasons, including experimental handling, collection of slide material in the wave basin, poor representation of prototype conditions for the block model, and excessive temporal duration for free granular slides. Impulse waves originating from slides with free granular material and mesh-packed slides are compared in this paper. Detailed test series are presented, so that the resulting main wave features can be compared. The results highlight whether the simplified procedure involving mesh-packed slides really applies in future research, and specify advantages in terms of impulse wave experimentation.