Nonlinear resonant characteristics of shallow fluid layers

Results are presented from an experimental investigation of the motion of a shallow layer of water in a square tank that was oscillated horizontally with small amplitude at frequencies close to the natural frequency of the layer. The aim was to assess the validity of certain theoretical predictions relating to nonlinear resonance in shallow layers based on asymptotic analysis. These concern the hysteretic nature of the resonance profile and the existence of non-trivial oscillatory components associated with shock-like discontinuities in the derived solution for the free surface configuration. The experimental results support the theoretical predictions and show a coincidence in parameter space between the regions of hysteresis and oscillatory transition.