Generation of unsteady waves by concentrated disturbances in an inviscid fluid with an inertial surface

The surface waves generated by unsteady concentrated disturbances in an initially quiescent fluid of infinite depth with an inertial surface are analytically investigated for two- and three-dimensional cases. The fluid is assumed to be inviscid, incompressible and homogenous. The inertial surface represents the effect of a thin uniform distribution of non-interacting floating matter. Four types of unsteady concentrated disturbances and two kinds of initial values are considered, namely an instantaneous/oscillating mass source immersed in the fluid, an instantaneous/oscillating impulse on the surface, an initial impulse on the surface of the fluid, and an initial displacement of the surface. The linearized initial-boundary-value problem is formulated within the framework of potential flow. The solutions in integral form for the surface elevation are obtained by means of a joint Laplace-Fourier transform. The asymptotic representations of the wave motion for large time with a fixed distance- to-time ratio are derived by using the method of stationary phase. The effect of the presence of an inertial surface on the wave motion is analyzed. It is found that the wavelengths of the transient dispersive waves increase while those of the steady-state progressive waves decrease. All the wave amplitudes decrease in comparison with those of conventional free-surface waves. The explicit expressions for the freesurface gravity waves can readily be recovered by the present results as the inertial surface disappears.

Flexural-gravity wave resistances due to a surface-moving line source on a fluid covered by a thin elastic plate

Analytical solutions for the flexural-gravity wave resistances due to a line source steadily moving on the surface of an infinitely deep fluid are investigated within the framework of the linear po- tential theory. The homogenous fluid, covered by a thin elastic plate, is assumed to be incompressible and inviscid, and the motion to be irrotational. The solution in integral form for the wave resistance is obtained by means of the Fourier transform and the explicitly analytical solutions are derived with the aid of the residue theorem. The dispersion relation shows that there is a minimal phase speed cmin, a threshold for the existence of the wave resistance. No wave is generated when the moving speed of the source V is less than emin while the wave resistances firstly increase to their peak values and then decrease when V ~〉 Crnin. The effects of the flexural rigidity and the inertia of the plate are studied. @ 2013 The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. [doi：10.1063/2.1302202]

Head-on collision between two hydroelastic solitary waves with Plotnikov-Toland's plate model

Head-on collision between two hydroelastic solitary waves propagating at the surface of an incompressible and ideal fluid covered by a thin ice sheet is analytically studied by means of a singular perturbation method. The ice sheet is represented by the Plotnikov-Toland model with the help of the special Cosserat theory of hyperelastic shells and the Kirchhoff-Love plate theory,which yields the nonlinear and conservative expression for the bending forces. The shallow water assumption is taken for the fluid motion with the Boussinesq approximation. The resulting governing equations are solved asymptotically with the aid of the Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo method,and the solutions up to the third order are explicitly presented. It is observed that solitary waves after collision do not change their shapes and amplitudes. The wave profile is symmetric before collision, and it becomes, after collision, unsymmetric and titled backward in the direction of wave propagation. The wave profile significantly reduces due to greater impacts of elastic plate and surface tension. A graphical comparison is presented with published results, and the graphical comparison between linear and nonlinear elastic plate models is also shown as a special case of our study.