CFD · bathymetry · wave generation

Calculate the wave before concrete. Design the bottom and the drive.

We run the water inside a surf pool through a full calculation: the wave shape, where it breaks, how the bottom and the wavemaker behave, the loads, the rides per hour. You get frames and numbers you can check — while the pool is still on paper.

Free-surface CFD Bottom profile Wave generation Report with assumptions

The bottom shapes the wave. So we work backwards — from the wave you want to the bottom profile that makes it.

Generator, bottom, wave, rider — they're one system, so we calculate the whole thing. Already have a design? We'll tell you the wave it will actually make. Still early? We'll help set the bottom, the generation cycle and the control parameters. Closed mechanics stay under NDA.

Four things to know before you sign off on a project.

A good-looking render tells you little. What matters: what wave actually moves through the basin, where it starts to break, how many rides it gives and what loads the structure takes.

01

Wave

Height, period, front, breaking point, ride length, takeoff zone and cadence.

02

Bottom

Depths, reef, shelf, damping zone, reflections and sensitivity to construction tolerances.

03

Generation

Wavemaker principle, stroke or impulse, drive cycle, energy per wave, forces and fatigue limits.

04

Throughput

Wave interval, rides per hour, session logic and the places where physics limits rider flow.

One run from our own R&D.

The frames below are one free-surface simulation of one of our own concepts. The water surface comes straight from the calculation, with no retouching. The bottom and the generation mechanics behind it stay under NDA, but the wave itself you can see in full.

Top-down free-surface CFD frame
Free-surface frame Surface elevation as the wave travels through the basin, straight from the solver.
3D water render built from the same CFD surface field
Oblique still 3D water render built from the same surface-elevation field.
3D view of a breaking wave from a concept study
Concept study A breaking wave over reef geometry from an earlier in-house study.

One simulation gives frames, sections and load histories.

We keep every run as data, not pictures: surface frames over time, section lines, drive-load histories, diagnostic traces. Below is the part we can show publicly. The full package goes to the client.

From one run: the surface shape, the section, how the crest moves and the load histories over time — all checkable.

Four frames of wave-crest formation
Time sequence Four phases up to crest opening, without the post-run tail.
2D section lines of the water surface and bed profile
Cross-section 2D water-surface and bed-profile lines as the crest passes.

Four jobs. Take one, or combine them into a project.

01 / Feasibility CFD study

Can this wave actually work?

A first engineering answer on the current basin geometry, depth profile and target wave.

  • Inputs: geometry, depth profile, target wave, site limits
  • Output: what works, what must change, where to stop
  • Format: engineering memo and calculation frames
  • Decision: continue, change the profile or stop
02 / Bathymetry

Shape the bottom for the wave.

We set or adjust the bottom profile so the wave grows, breaks in the right place and gives a ride.

  • Inputs: existing profile, grading constraints, wave target
  • Output: depth logic, breaking zone, geometry notes
  • Format: calculation frames and profile diagram
  • Decision: what geometry should move forward
03 / Wave generation

Review or develop the generation principle.

We calculate the impulse the water needs, the forces the mechanism sees and the drive cycle repeated wave after wave.

  • Inputs: target wave, footprint, drive and water constraints
  • Output: generation cycle, forces, energy, weak points
  • Format: engineering memo, details under NDA
  • Decision: refine, prototype or change principle
04 / Independent review

Recalculate someone else's concept.

If the owner already has a concept, we calculate the water separately and show where the physics closes and where it does not.

  • Inputs: drawings, wave targets, constraints and assumptions
  • Output: comments on wave, bottom profile, generation and validation
  • Format: independent engineering memo
  • Decision: what to recalculate before construction or the next payment

Our own wave systems live behind this site.

We don't only calculate other people's projects — we develop our own wave-generation concepts. The stills below are rendered from full 3D fluid simulations of them. The projects are closed, so no detail.

Oblique break, long peeling wave
Oblique break Long peeling wave.
Teahupoo wave concept with a barrel
Teahupoo Concept.
View from inside the Teahupoo concept barrel
Inside tube View from inside the Teahupoo concept.

Engineers and surfers.

Years in the water — so we know a good wave from a bad one, not from a render but from real, first-hand experience.

What you get.

Calculation frames

Free surface, breaking zone, bottom profile, time frames and control sections.

Engineering memo

Inputs, assumptions, wave parameters, model limits and project conclusions.

Next step

What to keep, what to recalculate, where to change the bottom or the generation, and what to prototype.

Three technical pages: CFD, wavemaker, bathymetry.

Surf-pool CFD →

Shows how the water moves through the geometry.

Wavemaker calculation →

Starts with the water response, not the machine name.

Surf-pool bathymetry →

Controls where the wave grows, breaks and loses shape.

Have basin geometry or a generation idea? Send it for calculation.

A masterplan, a depth profile, a generation sketch or just a target wave is enough to start — even a paragraph describing the task. We'll tell you what we can calculate right away and where we'll need an NDA or more data.