Directional attraction of fluid surface wave caused by vertically oscillating prisms

Abstract

Experiments show that the surface wave, which is caused by a triangular prism performing simple harmonic vibration with low frequency and small amplitude on fluid surface, has directional force on float. A series of experiments and an in-depth study about this phenomenon were carried out, and the characteristics of fluid surface wave from different structures oscillation were analyzed. Experiments were launched with different vertical oscillating structures, such as triangular prism, quadrangular prism, hexagonal prism and the cylinder. The results show that the surface wave, on the direction directly opposite to the prism edge, can attract the floats, while the wave on the direction directly opposite to the prism facet has repelling interection. The relationship between the strength of attraction and sharpness of the angle is non-linear. The sharper the angle, the stronger the attraction force. When the prism becomes a cylinder which means without angle, the attraction will disappear. The experiment found and verified the fluid surface wave caused by specific structure oscillating prisms has directional attraction interection. The results are helpful for cleaning up pollutants and collecting spill oil on the water. Key words: ocean engineering, vibration source stricture, surface wave, directed attraction, wave dynamics