Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2006
Large-amplitude waves can exist on an air-water interface where the air is in steady non-uniform flow and the water is stationary. Computations of such waves are provided here, both for periodic nonlinear Stokes-like waves, and for a specific wave-making configuration in which the periodic solution appears as the downstream far field. The wavemaker geometry chosen here is relevant to the edge region of a hovercraft, and the large-amplitude free-surface disturbance caused by the escaping air is computed as a function of the Froude number based on air-jet velocity and thickness.