Final Design

The tank is 48” x 6” x 12”, perfect for 1D waves since the width is narrow. The wave generating design consists of a linear actuator pushing and pulling some linkage system that is connected to the paddle. The actuator will be stationary, resting on the motor mount. The motor mount will rest on the sides of the tank and it will be clamped down so it does not get pushed back and forth. The paddle will be hinged at the bottom of the tank with a thick piece of plastic as shown. The reason the paddle is hinged at the bottom of the tank is because it better mimics deep water waves. For the sponsor, this was more desirable because with the piston paddle that moves the whole paddle, it will take time for the wave to develop since the force throughout the water is the same. As you go up the vertical position of the paddle, it displaces more water which creates a gradient of force where the top of the water is greater than the bottom producing a developed wave. Additionally, the paddle will be the same width as the internal width of the tank to prevent as much development of non-1D waves as possible. In the CAD Model, at both ends of the tank there is a porous material that is used to help dissipate any waves produced from the paddle that can rebound off the tank walls and disrupt the waves being produced.

A linear actuator was used in this design because it was important for our sponsor to be able to have a changing stroke length that they wouldn't have to manually change each time, but could be changed through the code of the actuator. This change in stroke length is important because stroke length is proportional to the amplitude of the wave which their desired amplitude was a range of 0-5mm amplitude and means the user would not have to manually change any stroke length. To best dissipate the energy of the waves, the porous material was cut with a spline like surface and put at both ends of the tank to prevent rebound waves from affecting the experimental area. The plate at the bottom is inclined in order to maximize the paddle length to ensure that it is closer to the bottom of the tank to increase the amount of water being displaced.