Effects of topographical disturbances on flexural wave motion in a viscous fluid

Abstract

Main causes of ground disturbances are geological events such as earthquakes, underwater gravity mass flows, volcanic eruptions, and bottom explosions. This paper investigates the effects of transitory ground disturbance on the generation of flexural waves in the presence of a thin floating elastic plate. The problem is formulated using the Stokes stream function and wave potential boundary value problems in a viscous fluid. The expression of the plate deflection is obtained as multiple infinite integrals using the Fourier and Laplace transforms, which is further solved by the steepest descent method. Three types of ground disturbances such as H0(x)=e(−x2/2), H0(x)=e−|x|, and H0(x)=δ(x) are considered. The deflection of the floating elastic plate is investigated in connection to ground disturbances, fluid viscosity, and structural parameters such as mass per unit length of the plate and flexural rigidity. The study reveals that with higher viscosity and flexural rigidity, the amplitude of the plate deflection is reduced. Moreover, these two parameters play a great role in the reduction of plate deflection.