We revisit experimental studies performed by Ekman on dead-water (Ekman, 1904) using modern techniques in order to present new insights on this peculiar phenomenon. We extend its description to more general situations such as a three-layer fluid or a linearly stratified fluid in presence of a pycnocline, showing the robustness of dead-water phenomenon. We observe large amplitude nonlinear internal waves which are coupled to the boat dynamics, and we emphasize that the modeling of the wave-induced drag requires more analysis, taking into account nonlinear effects. Dedicated to Fridtj ¨ of Nansen born 150 yr ago (10 October 1861). In this paper, we present detailed experimental results on the dead-water phenomenon as shown in the video by (2008). The material is organized as fol- lows. In the remaining of this section, we briefly review the different studies of this phenomenon, either directly related to Ekman's work or only partially connected to it. Section 2 presents the experimental set-up. The case of a two-layer fluid is addressed in Sect. 3, followed by the case with a three-layer fluid in Sect. 4. The more realistic stratification with a pycnocline above a linearly stratified fluid is finally discussed in Sect. 5. Our conclusions, and suggestions for future work are presented in Sect. 6.
Many papers study the steady wave system around bodies moving in thermoclines but little attention has been given to unsteady wave systems. This paper concentrates on the unsteady wave systems around accelerating bodies in thermoclines. The wave shapes are calculated using a theory derived from a dispersion relation based on an exp-tanh density profile. All modes of oscillation can be determined and it is shown that for the lowest mode both oblique and transverse waves occur whereas for the higher modes the presence of transverse waves depends on the background conditions and on the speed of the body. Cauchy-Poisson impulsive start waves are included. The theoretical wave shapes compare quite well with those calculated using finite-difference formulations of the full Navier-Stokes equations when a body accelerates from rest. A bench study of the amplitudes, mode composition, and phase structure of the internal waves generated by a vertical cylinder in the presence of a near-surface pycnocline has been performed; the pycnocline took the form of a stratified fluid layer located between two quasi-homogeneous layers of thicknesses h1 and h2=2h1. In the experiments, the cylinder traveled at velocities critical with respect to internal wave generation. Different cases of model submergence relative to the pycnocline are considered. The dependence of the mode structure and the amplitude-phase characteristics of the forced internal waves on the body velocity and its relative submergence is analyzed. The parameters of both steady and unsteady wave systems are studied.