The instabilities of gravity waves of finite amplitude in deep water II. Subharmonics

Calculation of the normal-mode perturbation of steep irrotational gravity waves, begun in part I, is here extended to a study of the subharmonic perturbations, namely those having horizontal scales greater than the basic wavelength (2π/k). At small wave amplitudes a , it is found that all perturbations tend to become neutrally stable; but as ak increases the perturbations coalesce in pairs to produce unstable modes. These may be identified with the instabilities analysed by Benjamin & Feir (1967) when ak is small. However, as ak increases beyond about 0.346, these modes become stable again. The maximum growth scale of this type of mode in the unstable range is only about 14 % per wave period, which value occurs at ak ≈0.32. At values of ak near 0.41 a new type of instability appears which has initially zero frequency but a much higher growth rate. It is pointed out that this type might be expected to arise at wave amplitudes for which the first Fourier coefficient in the basic wave is at its maximum value, as a function of the wave height. The corresponding wave steepness was found by Schwartz (1974) to be ak = 0.412. A comparison of the calculated rates of growth are in rather good agreement with those observed by Benjamin (1967) in the range 0.07< ak <0.17

In this paper we embark on a calculation of all the normal-mode perturbations of nonlinear, irrotational gravity waves as a function of the wave steepness. The method is to use as coordinates the stream-function and velocity potential in the steady, unperturbed wave (seen in a reference frame moving with the phase speed) together with the time t. The dependent quantities are the cartesian displacements and the perturbed stream function at the free surface. To begin we investigate the ‘superharmonics’, i.e. those perturbations having the same horizontal scale as the fundamental wave, or less. When the steepness of the fundamental is small, the normal modes take the form of travelling waves superposed on the basic nonlinear wave. As the steepness increases the frequency of each perturbation tends generally to be diminished. At a steepness ak ≈ 0.436 it appears that the two lowest modes coalesce and an instability arises. There is evidence that this critical steepness corresponds precisely with the steepness at which the phase velocity is a maximum, considered as a function of ak. The calculations are facilitated by the discovery of some new identities between the coefficients in Stokes’s expansion for waves of finite amplitude.


1966 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Brebner ◽  
J.A. Askew ◽  
S.W. Law

On the basis of non-viscous small amplitude firstorder theory the maximum value of the horizontal orbital motion at the bed in water of constant depth his given by /U/n yy* »* " r •»** */i where k = /L, H is the wave height crest to trough, T is the period, and L the wave length (L = Sry2jr Arf 2*%/L ). On the basis of finite amplitude wave theory where the particle orbits are not closed ana by the insertion of the viscous laminar boundary layer (the conducti6n solution) the mean drift velocity or mass transport velocity on a perfectly smooth bed is given by Longuet- Higgins (1952) as 7, K H* kcr where


1994 ◽  
Vol 259 ◽  
pp. 333-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Longuet-Higgins ◽  
R. P. Cleaver ◽  
M. J. H. Fox

In a previous study (Longuet-Higgins & Cleaver 1994) we calculated the stability of the flow near the crest of a steep, irrotational wave, the ‘almost-highest’ wave, considered as an isolated wave crest. In the present paper we consider the modification of this inner flow when it is matched to the flow in the rest of the wave, and obtain the normal-mode perturbations of the modified inner flow. It is found that there is just one exponentially growing mode. Its rate of growth β is a decreasing function of the matching parameter ε and hence a decreasing function of the wave steepness ak. When compared numerically to the rates of growth of the lowest superharmonic instability in a deep-water wave as calculated by Tanaka (1983) it is found that the present theory provides a satisfactory asymptote to the previously calculated values of the growth rate. This suggests that the instability of the lowest superharmonic is essentially due to the flow near the crest of the wave.


1968 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Thorpe

Two-dimensional internal gravity waves in a rectangular container are examined theoretically and experimentally in (a) fluids which contain a single density discontinuity and (b) fluids in which the density gradient is everywhere continuous. The fractional density difference between the top and bottom of the fluid is small.Good agreement is found between the observed and calculated wave profiles in case (a). Unlike surface standing waves, which tend to sharpen at their crests as the wave amplitude increases, and which eventually break at the crests when fluid accelerations become equal to that of gravity, internal wave crests are found to be flat and exhibit no instability. In the case (a) breaking is found to occur at the nodes of the interfacial wave, where the current shear, generated by the wave itself, is greatest. For sufficiently large wave amplitudes, a disturbance with the form of a vortex but with direction of rotation reversing twice every cycle, grows at the wave node and causes mixing. This instability is found to be followed by the generation of cross-waves, of which two different forms are observed.Several modes of oscillation can be generated and are observed in a fluid with constant density gradient. The wave frequencies and shape are well predicted by theory. The experiments failed to establish any limitation of the possible wave amplitudes.


BioResources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 7079-7099
Author(s):  
Jianying Chen ◽  
Guojing He ◽  
Xiaodong (Alice) Wang ◽  
Jiejun Wang ◽  
Jin Yi ◽  
...  

Timber-concrete composite beams are a new type of structural element that is environmentally friendly. The structural efficiency of this kind of beam highly depends on the stiffness of the interlayer connection. The structural efficiency of the composite was evaluated by experimental and theoretical investigations performed on the relative horizontal slip and vertical uplift along the interlayer between composite’s timber and concrete slab. Differential equations were established based on a theoretical analysis of combination effects of interlayer slip and vertical uplift, by using deformation theory of elastics. Subsequently, the differential equations were solved and the magnitude of uplift force at the interlayer was obtained. It was concluded that the theoretical calculations were in good agreement with the results of experimentation.


1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 2951-2961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miloslav Karel ◽  
Jaroslav Nývlt

Measured growth and dissolution rates of single crystals and tablets were used to calculate the overall linear rates of growth and dissolution of CuSO4.5 H2O crystals. The growth rate for the tablet is by 20% higher than that calculated for the single crystal. It has been concluded that this difference is due to a preferred orientation of crystal faces on the tablet surface. Calculated diffusion coefficients and thicknesses of the diffusion and hydrodynamic layers in the vicinity of the growing or dissolving crystal are in good agreement with published values.


1982 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 367-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Klostermeyer

The equations describing parametric instabilities of a finite-amplitude internal gravity wave in an inviscid Boussinesq fluid are studied numerically. By improving the numerical approach, discarding the concept of spurious roots and considering the whole range of directions of the Floquet vector, Mied's work is generalized to its full complexity. In the limit of large disturbance wavenumbers, the unstable disturbances propagate in the directions of the two infinite curve segments of the related resonant-interaction diagram. They can therefore be classified into two families which are characterized by special propagation directions. At high wavenumbers the maximum growth rates converge to limits which do not depend on the direction of the Floquet vector. The limits are different for both families; the disturbance waves propagating at the smaller angle to the basic gravity wave grow at the larger rate.


Modern applications of water-wave studies, as well as some recent theoretical developments, have shown the need for a systematic and accurate calculation of the characteristics of steady, progressive gravity waves of finite amplitude in water of arbitrary uniform depth. In this paper the speed, momentum, energy and other integral properties are calculated accurately by means of series expansions in terms of a perturbation parameter whose range is known precisely and encompasses waves from the lowest to the highest possible. The series are extended to high order and summed with Padé approximants. For any given wavelength and depth it is found that the highest wave is not the fastest. Moreover the energy, momentum and their fluxes are found to be greatest for waves lower than the highest. This confirms and extends the results found previously for solitary and deep-water waves. By calculating the profile of deep-water waves we show that the profile of the almost-steepest wave, which has a sharp curvature at the crest, intersects that of a slightly less-steep wave near the crest and hence is lower over most of the wavelength. An integration along the wave profile cross-checks the Padé-approximant results and confirms the intermediate energy maximum. Values of the speed, energy and other integral properties are tabulated in the appendix for the complete range of wave steepnesses and for various ratios of depth to wavelength, from deep to very shallow water.


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