A study of the waves and boundary layers due to a surface pressure on a uniform stream of a slightly viscous liquid of finite depth (Q2472040)

Summary: The 2D problem of linear waves generated by an arbitrary pressure distribution \(p_{0}(x,t)\) on a uniform viscous stream of finite depth \(h\) is examined. The surface displacement \(\zeta \) is expressed correct to \(O(\nu )\) terms, for small viscosity \(\nu \), with a restriction on \(p_{0}(x,t)\). For \(p_{0}(x,t)=p_{0}(x)e^{i\omega t}\), exact forms of the steady-state propagating waves are next obtained for all \(x\) and not merely for \(x\gg 0\) which form a wave-quartet or a wave-duo amid local disturbances. The long-distance asymptotic forms are then shown to be uniformly valid for large \(h\). For numerical and other purposes, a result essentially due to Cayley is used successfully to express these asymptotic forms in a series of powers of powers of \(\nu ^{1/2^{}}\) or \(\nu ^{1/4^{}}\) with coefficients expressed directly in terms of nonviscous wave frequencies and amplitudes. An approximate thickness of surface boundary layer is obtained and a numerical study is undertaken to bring out the salient features of the exact and asymptotic wave motion in question.