A comparison between experimental and numerical investigations of the motion of the water surface in a model surge tank

This paper describes an investigation into the motion of the water surface in a simple model surge tank, and the relevant factors governing its behaviour. The oscillation of the free water surface is an unsteady flow problem, which is amenable to a mathematical solution using a finite difference step-by-step integration procedure. For comparison, two such methods are presented: (i) a simple initial value method and (ii) a predictor-corrector technique. Computer programs have been developed linked to a graph plotter to give a visual presentation of the numerical solutions together with the experimental results of the damped oscillation of the water surface in the model surge tank.