A note on the generation of surface waves by inviscid shear flows (Q799425)

The propagation of finite amplitude waves over liquid surfaces; with a plane flexible boundary, is studied when there is a parallel shear flow of air over the surface. The nonlinear theory is applied to the shear flow critical layer and it avoids the introduction of a jump in the Reynolds stress across the layer. A resonant interaction between the perturbations of the shear flow and the surface wave disturbances appears possible, thereby transferring energy to the surface waves and amplifying their amplitude. The numerical calculations of air flow over water indicates that the wave generation mechanism operates for wind speeds \(\gtrsim 100\) cm/s and for a band of wavelengths \(\gtrsim 40\) cm.