An experimental study of strongly nonlinear waves in a rotating system

Abstract

The influence of rotation upon internal solitary waves is studied in a (10 m × 2 m × 0.6 m) channel located on the large rotating platform at Grenoble University. We observe an intumescence which moves along the right-hand side of the channel with respect to its direction of propagation. Along the side, once the intumescence reaches its equilibrium shape, the height variation of the interface with time is correctly described by the sech2 function, and the characteristic KdV scaling law linking the maximum amplitude and the wavelength along the side is fulfilled. The intumescence is a stable phenomenon which moves as a whole without deformation apart from the viscous damping. For identical experimental conditions, the amplitude of the intumescence along the side increases with increasing Coriolis parameter, and at a given period of rotation of the platform, the celerity along the side increases with increasing amplitude. But for identical conditions, we found that the celerity along the side is equal to the celerity that the wave would have for such conditions without rotation. The amplitude of the intumescence in a plane perpendicular to the wall decreases exponentially with increasing distance from the side, but the crest of the wave is curved backward.