Ship Wakes: Kelvin or Mach Angle?
Résumé
From the analysis of a set of airborne images of ship wakes, we show that the wake angles decrease as U-1 at large velocities, in a way similar to the Mach cone for supersonic airplanes. This previously unnoticed Mach-like regime is in contradiction with the celebrated Kelvin prediction of a constant angle of 19.47 o independent of the ship's speed. We propose here a model, confirmed by numerical simulations, in which the finite size of the disturbance explains this transition between the Kelvin and Mach regimes at a Froude number F r = U/ √ gL 0.5, where L is the hull ship length.
Domaines
Physique [physics]
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)