Solitary waves in rotating fluids

Abstract

This paper describes some experiments in rotating flows in which solitary waves were observed.In one set of experiments the waves were generated on a swirling flow whose circumferential velocity distribution resembled that of the Rankine combined vortex. This flow was established by stirring the liquid in a large cylindrical container, in much the same way as one stirs a cup of tea, and it was often found at the cessation of the stirring that a wave had been generated. This wave propagated along the vortex core and was reflected at the bottom of the container and at the free surface of the liquid and displayed the remarkable permanence characteristic of solitary waves. It appears that, to a first approximation, the speed of the waves may be calculated simply from the depression of the free surface of the liquid at the centre of the vortex. These waves are the rotating-fluid counterpart to the solitary waves in fluids of great depth recently discussed by Benjamin (1967b) and by Davis & Acrivos (1967).In a second set of experiments, solitary waves were generated in a long cylindrical tube and are analogous to the familiar solitary wave of open-channel flows. The theory indicates that these waves are possible in any swirling flow in which the angular velocity is distributed non-uniformly. Thus, a long liquid-filled tube was started rotating about its axis with a uniform angular velocity, and waves were generated before the fluid had reached a state of uniform rotation. Using the known velocity distribution for a tube of infinite length, comparisons have been made between the observed wave forms and the theoretical calculations of Benjamin (1967a). There is good agreement between the observed wave forms and the theoretical predictions.