Nonlinear water waves generated by an accelerated circular cylinder

Abstract

Numerical solutions for the irrotational flow of an incompressible fluid about a circular cylinder accelerated from rest below a free surface are presented. The usual restriction to linearized free-surface boundary conditions has been avoided. The transient period from the start to a local steady state or to the development of a very steep wave slope is investigated in terms of free-surface profiles and body-surface pressure distributions. Linear and nonlinear results are used to illustrate the transition from deep submergence when nonlinear effects are small to shallow submergence when linearized analysis is inaccurate.