Free-surface flow past oscillating singularities at resonant frequency

Abstract

This paper analyses the problem of a flow past an oscillating body moving with constant velocity, below and parallel to a free surface. Special attention is given to frequencies of oscillation in the neighbourhood of the critical frequency ωc= 0.25 g/U, where the classical linearized solution yields infinitely large wave amplitude. As a result both the lift and drag forces acting on the oscillating body at the resonant frequency are singular. It is demonstrated in the paper how this resonance is elimi- nated by considering higher-order free-surface effects, in particular the interaction between the first- and third-order terms. The resulting generalized solution yields finite wave amplitudes at the resonant frequency which are O(ε½) and O(εlogε) for 2 and 3 dimensions respectively. Here 6 is a measure of the singularity strength. It is also shown that inclusion of third-order terms causes a shift in the wavenumber and group velocity which eliminates the singularity in the lift and drag expressions at the resonant frequency. These results are illustrated by computing the lift and drag experienced by a submerged oscillating horizontal doublet in a uniform flow.