Effect of Fluid Viscosity on the Faraday Surface Waves

The comprehensive experimental analysis of the fluid viscosity effect on the standing gravity waves excited at parametric resonance is carried out. The viscous effects on the frequency range of excitement of the second wave mode, its resonance dependences, and the processes of damping and approaching the steady-state regime are quantitatively estimated by varying the viscosity over a wide range. It is found that the waves are regularized without breaking when the kinematic viscosity of the workingmedium becomes higher than a threshold value. A mechanism of viscous regularization of wave motion is suggested. In accordance with this mechanism, the effects observed experimentally relate to the presence of the shortwave cutoff domain in which viscous dissipation becomes the dominant factor and the shortwave perturbations responsible for breaking the standing wave are suppressed.