A simple electric motor and some pieces of aluminum and bam, you have a wave maker. The Wave Maker was designed with a PVC bottom board so that the user can place the machine over most laboratory testing tanks photo 1. This apparatus converts rotational motion into vertical motion by means of simple mechanics. The simple mechanics consists of an acrylic roller that rides on the upper part of the main aluminum tubing. This allowed the motor to easily lift the tubing while lessening the friction between the two motions. The main aluminum tubing is hinged at one end to produce the wanted up and down motion on the other.
Moreover, the Wave Maker has adjustable settings so that the chosen shape which makes contact with the water can be moved vertically. There are two ways of changing the vertical displacement of the aluminum tubing, the first is choosing one of three holes on the rotating disc (these holes are 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 inches outward from the center of the disc) and the second is selecting the length of the aluminum strips (these come in 4.375, 6.375, 8.375, and 10.375 inches) photo 2. The reason the latter comes in the lengths described above is do the fact when measured from the top of the PVC base to the bottom of these strips, the measurement equals 6, 8, 10, and 12 inches, respectively photo 3.
Since the Wave Maker will encounter varying heights between it and the water surface, a slotted adjuster was installed to ensure that the aluminum strip will be perpendicular to the water's surface when the attachment makes contact with the water photo 3. On the back side of the tubing, there is a wing nut that can be tightened to secure the aluminum strips at the needed angle once they are pivoted in place. The electric motor has a variable speed selector so that the user can select the period of the wave she/he creates photo 4. This coupled with the user attaching his/her desired shape for an attachment allows for a large number of wave possibilities.
Currently, a sheet of plexy glass is the chosen attachment. The sheet's angle relative to that of the water's surface can be adjusted by pivoting the arced members about the pins located on the bottom of the aluminum strips photo 3. Therefore, when the sheet makes contact with the water, it pushes the water down and out similar to that of a wedge photo 5. The ability to adjust for varying heights and to add different attachments, makes the Wave Maker applicable to many laboratory tests. Lastly in case you are curious, here is a little information on me info.
My name is Jason Lauters, and I am currently a senior in the Civil and Environmental Engineering School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Wave Maker was designed for a final project in the Coastal Engineering course taught by Professor Chin Wu.
