Paper 3, Section II, C

Fluid Dynamics
Part IB, 2016

A layer of thickness h1h_{1} of a fluid of density ρ1\rho_{1} is located above a layer of thickness h2h_{2} of a fluid of density ρ2>ρ1\rho_{2}>\rho_{1}. The two-fluid system is bounded by two impenetrable surfaces at y=h1y=h_{1} and y=h2y=-h_{2} and is assumed to be two-dimensional (i.e. independent of zz ). The fluid is subsequently perturbed, and the interface between the two fluids is denoted y=η(x,t)y=\eta(x, t).

(a) Assuming irrotational motion in each fluid, state the equations and boundary conditions satisfied by the flow potentials, φ1\varphi_{1} and φ2\varphi_{2}.

(b) The interface is perturbed by small-amplitude waves of the form η=η0ei(kxωt)\eta=\eta_{0} e^{i(k x-\omega t)}, with η0k1\eta_{0} k \ll 1. State the equations and boundary conditions satisfied by the linearised system.

(c) Calculate the dispersion relation of the waves relating the frequency ω\omega to the wavenumber kk.