Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 March 2006
The surface elevations in a strip 0 < y < b and in a rectangle -d < y < 0, |x| < a are expressed as a Fourier integral and Fourier series respectively. Using a Galerkin technique to match boundary conditions, the solution to the general problem of the response of a rectangular resonator to inviscid shallow-water waves in infinite and semi-infinite channels is obtained.
Theoretical results are compared with laboratory experiments of James (1970, 1971a, b). Agreement is generally very good, except that the inviscid and linear theory does not predict the observed large energy losses in the resonator at resonance.
The theory is also applied to a geometry corresponding to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the calculated response of the Gulf to semi-diurnal tides gives a zero response at Kuramba, in agreement with observations. The full response of the Gulf is calculated in subsequent work (Williams 1974) which takes the effects of the earth's rotation into account.