Design and fabrication of wave generator using an oscillating wedge

Abstract

This paper describes the design and fabrication of a wave flume and associated equipment. The water wave generation by a triangle wedge is examined in this paper. Wave flume is fabricated by a concrete flume, which is 0.75-meter-wide, 1.3-meter-tall, and 11 meters long. One side of the flume is made of concrete, and the other side is made of clear mica sheets for observe the water wave profile. Wave flume is equipped with a triangle wedge located at one end of the wave flume, and this triangle wedge can be move along the rail of the wave flume. The passive wave absorber, which is made of honeycomb, which is located at the other end of the wave flume for absorbing energy waves generated from the wavemaker. The wedge is controlled by a desktop computer through Matlab software. The wedge can be controlled move up and down at a prescribed speed and oscillation amplitude corresponding to the desired wave height and wave frequency. At the middle flume is equipped microlaser distance sensor, which provides the data-logging capability. The microlaser distance sensor can collect wave height and wave period through a small ball, which is motioned in the tube, which is assembled on the water surface, and the small ball is very slight to avoid kinetic inertia energy. At the wavemaker is equipped with an Eccentricity Sensor, which is used to measure the wedge position to feedback for a desktop computer. Wave flume can generate the largest waves are about 0.2 meter high,  a period about 1 second, and a wavelength of about 1.5 meters. The waves generated by an oscillating wedge have been measured, analyzed to consider the generated wave energy.