Experimental Study of Ship Internal Waves—The Supersonic Case

Internal waves produced by a ship traveling faster than the fastest internal waves (supersonic case) were investigated experimentally in our laboratory in a wide tank using averaging conductivity wave gages developed for this investigation. The wave gage is similar to the conductivity probe, but has space-averaging electrodes. An array of seven such gages was used in a wave tank with dimensions 12 ft length, 8 ft width, 2 ft depth. The water in the tank was stratified with salt to obtain desired density distributions. A spheroid, split vertically, was towed against and along a sidewall to simulate a moving ship. Simultaneous wave profiles at various distances normal to the track of the ship were obtained for different Froude numbers and density distributions. The internal wave patterns were calculated from the measured data and compared with theoretical results. The amplitude on the first crest of the internal wave field is also plotted against the distance from the ship, and a limited comparison with theory is made. The experimental method developed for this study is sensitive, simple and reliable. It may serve to obtain a data base for ship-generated internal waves under a variety of conditions.