Transient Excitation of a Liquid Half Space by a Decelerating Load

Abstract

Wave propagation from a two-dimensional expanding load on a liquid half space is considered for the case in which the fronts of the load decelerate monotonically from an initial supersonic speed. The pressure on the surface is taken to be of constant magnitude. Particular attention is paid to the pressure field near the surface during the transonic period of motion of the expanding pulse. It is found that rapid variations in the field occur near the wave front during this period. Results are computed for the special case of a uniformly decelerating load.