The supercritical bore produced by a high-speed ship in a channel

Abstract

An experimental investigation is made into the various flow regimes accompanying a ship travelling in a channel at supercritical speeds. The phenomena of smooth solitons, broken solitons, bores, and steady supercritical flow are observed. We look at the conditions under which each phenomenon exists, and the depth-based Froude numbers at which the transitions occur. Special emphasis is placed on ship bores, and we put forward a simple theoretical model for predicting the form of the bores as well as the transition to steady supercritical flow.