Resonant hydraulic sloshing in a tank of variable depth

Abstract

The forced resonant oscillations of a fluid in a tank of variable depth are considered within the hydraulic approximation. It is shown that for certain bottom topographies a continuous periodic output dominated by the first normal mode is possible. This contrasts with the case of a tank of constant depth, where hydraulic jumps are a feature of the motion. The amplitude and frequency of the output are connected by a cubic equation. The fluid response can act like that of a hard or soft spring, depending on the bottom topography. There is also a critical bottom topography that yields a higher order response amplitude. (2000). 76B15, 74J15, 74J30. Mathematics Subject Classification