The impact of a water wedge upon a wedge-shaped wall

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Meyerhoff, W. Kay

Affiliations: Forschungszentrum des Deutschen Schiffbaus e.V., Hamburg, Germany

Abstract: The linearized theory of normal-symmetric wedge impact on a water surface developed by v. Karman and by Wagner is used to determine the forces acting during the impact of water wedges upon wedge-shaped rigid walls. The linearized conditions are applied also to the cases of larger dead-rise angles. The potential flow in the water wedge during the impact is found by conformal mapping according to the method of Schwarz and Christoffel and is obtained in form of an infinite series. From this the added mass, the wetting correction, and an expression for the pressure distribution are derived. Numerical results for the added-mass coefficient and for the wetting correction, calculated on a computer, are presented in diagrams. For the limiting case of wedge impact on an initially flat water surface, the results are in agreement with previously published results of the linearized theory, which reasonably agree with the results of non-linear investigations for larger dead-rise angles. For the other limiting case of water-wedge impact upon a plane wall, forces are compared with published results from approximate non-linear investigations. Reasonable agreement was found only with the results given by Cumberbatch, but not with those by Borisova, Koriavov, and Moiseev.

DOI: 10.3233/ISP-1970-1719202

Journal: International Shipbuilding Progress, vol. 17, no. 192, pp. 253-264, 1970