Harbour oscillations generated by shear flow

Abstract

A new mechanism that could be responsible for excitation of long-period oscillations in partially enclosed harbours is discussed. This mechanism is based on the interaction between a shear flow and the harbour-basin natural mode and does not suppose any external exciting forces caused by wind waves, tsunami, etc. The growth rate of harbour oscillations is found in terms of a plane-wave reflection coefficient integrated on the wavenumber spectrum of the oscillating outflow field near the harbour entrance. Analytical considerations for simple shear flows (vortex sheet and jet) show that the growth rate changes its sign depending on the ratio of oscillation frequency to flow speed.