SCALING FACTORS FOR USE WITH RIPPLE TANK STUDIES OF WAVE PROPAGATION IN A FLUID VOLUME.

Abstract

A study is made of wave propagation on the surface of a liquid in a ripple tank. The waves under study are of the deepwater capillary type (that is, short wave length); their velocity and mode of propagation are influenced by two independent parameters: surface tension and the generated frequency. Since the velocity of wave propagated in a fluid volume is independent of frequency and that of surface waves is not, corrective scaling factors are derived to account for this difference, that is, an expression is developed which correlates the velocity of a wave propagated in a fluid volume with the velocity of a two-dimensional wave on the surface of a fluid. By using properly sized and positioned reflecting boundary surfaces which protrude through the air-liquid interface in the ripple tank, it is possible to study the behavior of sound waves in a fluid volume with prototype reflecting boundary surfaces. A description (including photographs) of the construction details of the particular ripple tank used in the study is given. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1965
Accession Number
AD0633675

Entities

People

  • D. Muster
  • W. S. Mitchell

Organizations

  • University of Houston

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Boundaries
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Shift
  • Photographs
  • Sound Waves
  • Surface Tension
  • Surface Waves
  • Two Dimensional
  • Wave Propagation
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Software Engineering