Unsteady non-linear waves in sloping channels

Abstract

It is shown in general that the exact solution to every non-degenerate unsteady water-wave problem in a straight channel inclined at arbitrary slope, governed by the non-linear hydraulic equations, can be obtained in terms of the complete elliptic integral of the second kind, E. By means of a non-Newtonian reference frame, every such wave problem for a sloping channel can be replaced by an associated problem for a horizontal channel. For the latter, the partial differential equations become reducible and thus permit hodograph inversion. The Riemann integration method for the resulting Euler-Poisson equation yields an auxiliary function for these hydraulic problems which is transformable into a Legendre function and then into the elliptic integral. In particular, the procedure is applied to obtain the exact solution for the water wave in a sloping channel produced by sudden release of the triangular wedge of water (the reservoir) initially at rest behind a vertical wall. The behaviour of the solution is exhibited for convenience in two level-line charts, and representative wave profiles and velocity distributions are presented.