Wave resistance: Some cases of three-dimensional fluid motion

Abstract

1. Calculations of wave resistance, corresponding to a pressure system travelling over the surface, have hitherto been limited to two-dimensional fluid motion; in those cases, the distribution of pressure on the surface is one-dimensional, and the regular waves produced have straight, parallel crests. The object of the following paper is to work out some cases when the surface pressure is two-dimensional and the wave pattern is like that produced by a ship. A certain pressure system symmetrical about a point is first examined, and more general distributions are obtained by superposition. By combining two simple systems of equal magnitude, one in rear of the other, we obtain results which show interesting interference effects. In similar calculations with line pressure systems, at certain speeds the waves due to one system cancel out those due to the other, and the wave resistance is zero; the corresponding ideal form of ship has been called a wave-free pontoon. Such cases of perfect interference do not occur in three-dimensional problems; the graph showing the variation of wave resistance with velocity has the humps and hollows which are characteristic of the resistance curves of ship models. Although the main object is to show how to calculate the wave resistance for assigned surface pressures of considerable generality, it is of interest to interpret some of the results in terms of a certain related problem. With certain limitations, the waves produced by a travelling surface pressure are such as would be caused by a submerged body of suitable form. The expression for the wave resistance of a submerged sphere, given in a previous paper, is confirmed by the following analysis. It is also shown how to extend the method to a submerged body whose form is derived from stream lines obtained by combining sources and siuks with a uniform stream; in particular, an expression is given for the wave resistance of a prolate spheroid moving in the direction of its axis.