This study experimentally investigates water waves generated by the collapse of a partially immersed axisymmetric granular column into water. The experiments reveal the presence of cnoidal-like waves, nonlinear transition waves, and nonlinear oscillatory waves. Two simplified wave-generation mechanisms are proposed and related to the transition between different wave types, which helps explain the connection between the initial conditions and the resulting wave regimes. The relationships between wave amplitude, celerity, wavelength, and period under varying initial conditions are systematically analyzed and an empirical formula is proposed to predict the maximum wave amplitude. Except in shallow-water cases, most of the observed waves exhibit weak nonlinearity and strong dispersive behavior, distinguishing them from wave patterns reported in previous two-dimensional studies.

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• Granular avalanches
• Surface gravity waves