Abstract
Interfacial internal waves in a stratified fluid excited by periodic free-surface perturbations in a closed tank are studied experimentally. Barotropic–baroclinic energy conversion is induced by the presence of a bottom obstacle. The connection between horizontal surface velocities and internal wave amplitudes is investigated, the developing flow patterns are described qualitatively, and the wave speeds of internal waves are systematically analyzed and compared to linear two- and three-layer theories. We find that, despite the fact that the observed internal waves can have considerable amplitudes, a linear three-layer approximation still gives fairly good agreement with the experimental results.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for Anna Kohári, Imre M. Jánosi and Balázs Tóth for the crucial support. The fruitful discussions with Tamás Tél are also highly acknowledged. This work is supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH) under Grant Number FK125024.
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Vincze, M., Bozóki, T. Experiments on barotropic–baroclinic conversion and the applicability of linear n-layer internal wave theories. Exp Fluids 58, 136 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-017-2418-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-017-2418-7