Wave Generation And Wind-Induced Shear Current In Water

The results of measurements of shear current induced in water by wind in wind wave tunnel are presented briefly. The shear current distributions are found to fit reasonably well an exponentiall form. This form was used to estimate surface velocity and boundary layer thickness used in stability analysis. An analysis of hydrodynamic stability of the shear current was carried out, using a broken line as an approximate profile, to see the stability as a possible mechanism of wind wave generation. Comparison between experimental results and theoretical ones shows that there exists a large discrepancy particularly in phase velocity and hydrodynamic instability of the shear current seems not to be the basic mechanism of wind wave generation.