Influence of cross channel depth variation on ship wave patterns

Abstract

The present work is a numerical investigation on waves generated by a pressure disturbance moving at constant speed in a channel with a variable cross-channel depth profile. The channel profile, which is uniform in the along-channel direction, has a deep trench located in the vicinity of the center line of the channel, and shallow banks near the channel walls. Wave fields generated upstream and downstream of the moving pressure disturbance are described, and the characteristic features present in the wave patterns are related to the parameters governing the speed of the pressure disturbance and the shape of the cross-channel profile. Our numerical investigation is based on the COULWAVE long wave model, which solves a set of Boussinesq type equations in two horizontal dimensions.