Many boundary value problems occur in a natural way while studying fluid flow problems in a channel. The solutions of two such boundary value problems are obtained and analysed in the context of flow problems involving three layers of fluids of different constant densities in a channel, associated with an impermeable bottom that has a small undulation. The top surface of the channel is either bounded by a rigid lid or free to the atmosphere. The fluid in each layer is assumed to be inviscid and incompressible, and the flow is irrotational and two-dimensional. Only waves that are stationary with respect to the bottom profile are considered in this paper. The effect of surface tension is neglected. In the process of obtaining solutions for both the problems, regular perturbation analysis along with a Fourier transform technique is employed to derive the first-order corrections of some important physical quantities. Two types of bottom topography, such as concave and convex, are considered to derive the profiles of the interfaces. We observe that the profiles are oscillatory in nature, representing waves of variable amplitude with distinct wave numbers propagating downstream and with no wave upstream. The observations are presented in tabular and graphical forms.

The problem of surface water wave scattering by two thin nearly vertical barriers submerged in deep water from the same depth below the mean free surface and extending infinitely downwards is investigated here assuming linear theory, where configurations of the two barriers are described by the same shape function. By employing a simplified perturbational analysis together with appropriate applications of Green's integral theorem, first-order corrections to the reflection and transmission coefficients are obtained. As in the case of a single nearly vertical barrier, the first-order correction to the transmission coefficient is found to vanish identically, while the correction for the reflection coefficient is obtained in terms of a number of definite integrals involving the shape function describing the two barriers. The result for a single barrier is recovered when two barriers are merged into a single barrier.