Pressure distribution and the effect of air injection in the separated flow over a spiked-hemisphere were investigated at a Mach number of 3·3, and Reynolds number around the transitional value. Pressure distribution along the spike as well as over the body was measured in the absence of injection. Air was injected into the separated flow at the spike tip and base and reattachment region through one or more orifices drilled normal to the surface, and the resulting flow patterns were observed using the schlieren technique. The results show that (i) the pressure variation along the spike is similar to a two-dimensional separated flow in the transition régime; and (ii) the mass injection at the spike tip has a strong destabilizing effect regardless of injection rate, while the injection from spike base and reattachment region can be either slightly stabilizing or destabilizing depending on the flow condition.

Empirical information is extracted from constant-pressure flows and, on this basis alone, the equations of motion are solved for flows where the pressure gradient parameter, β = δ*(dp/dx)/τ0 is held constant. The experimental defect profiles of Clauser and the near-separating profile of Stratford are predicted quite well.

The present work is an extension of the work of Clauser and Townsend in that a particular form for an effective or eddy viscosity is hypothesized. Here, however, a continuous, and analytically precise family of defect profiles are calculated for the entire range, −0·5 ≤ β ≤ ∞. The solutions span the whole profile with the exception of the viscous sublayer.

A detailed consideration of the viscous sublayer and a comparative examination of various eddy viscosity hypotheses are included in a companion paper.

A dimensional argument is presented leading to a functional form for the effective viscosity which embraces the hypothesis of a previous paper (Mellor & Gibson 1966; hereafter referred to as paper A) in the defect portion of a turbulent boundary layer. The new argument also suggests a way of determining the effective viscosity in the viscous sublayer when the flow is subjected to mainstream pressure gradients.

It will be shown that the large wall-velocity profiles and the defect-velocity profiles automatically overlap, even in the absence of a logarithmic portion. It will be shown further that equilibrium flows are uniquely determined by β and R.

Plumpton & Ferraro (1955) considered the torsional oscillations of an infinitely conducting sphere in a uniform magnetic field. They showed that if the fluid and magnetic viscosity were assumed to be zero in the governing differential equations, then a continuous spectrum of eigenvalues could be obtained. This novel feature was clarified by Stewartson (1957) when he obtained the exact solution and showed that in the correct limit of a perfect conductor the eigen-values are discrete. Furthermore, in the limit of infinite conductivity the oscillations occur only on the axis of symmetry (figure 1).

An integral-equation approach is used to calculate the first-order effect of the proximity of a boundary on the Stokes resistance of a body. It is shown, that this approach gives both a simple derivation of the modified Stokes resistance and a method of investigating the accuracy of the final result. The problem of two settling particles is also considered briefly.

Steady circulatory motions at the surface of tap-water flowing in an open channel and past a hemispherical air bubble on a channel wall are described and explained by the presence of a film of surface-active material. Boundary conditions for the liquid phase are derived by assuming that the surface film is insoluble and incompressible. Good agreement is obtained between the theoretical and measured velocity fields in the open-channel flow.

Fluid impacts on the base of a stably stratified region of fluid cause internal-wave ripples whose spread is predominantly horizontal if the duration of the impacts is long compared with the natural period of the stratified fluid. The development of a single ripple in a slightly viscous fluid is calculated, first with a constant vertical gradient of potential density and then with a gradient varying linearly with height. The single-ripple results are used to find the intensity of the statistically steady wave motion generated by impacts which are randomly distributed in space and time. Above a critical height, dependent on the viscosity and stability of the fluid and on the time and length scales of the impacts, wave energy falls off as the −5/3 power of the height with a constant density gradient and as the −25/6 power with a linearly varying gradient. The predictions are compared with observations of temperature fluctuations in the stable region of an ice-water convection system and with observations of ‘clear-air turbulence’ over strato-cumulus cloud. Reasonable numerical agreement can be obtained with plausible values for the scales of the convective motion which provides the impacts.

Consideration is given to the possibility of overstability in the Couette flow of viscous and elastico-viscous liquids. The relevant linear perturbation equations are solved numerically using an initial-value technique. It is shown that over-stability is not possible in the case of Newtonian liquids for the cases considered. In contrast, overstability is to be expected in the case of moderately-elastic Maxwell liquids. The Taylor number associated with the overstable mode decreases steadily as the amount of elasticity in the liquid increases, and it is concluded that highly elastic Maxwell liquids can be very unstable indeed.

The stability of forward and rearward slug flows due to the motion of a body through a perfectly conducting liquid with an embedded magnetic field aligned to the direction of motion is studied. It is found that, for sub-Alfvénic flows, the forward and rearward slug flows predicted by Stewartson, Leibovich and Ludford are stable. For super-Alfvénic flows, if at all meaningful, both the forward and the rearward slug flows are stable also.

This is the second of two articles by the authors dealing with asymptotic expansions for forced-convection heat or mass transfer to laminar flows. It is shown here how the method of the first paper (Acrivos & Goddard 1965), which was used to derive a higher-order term in the large Péclet number expansion for heat or mass transfer to small Reynolds number flows, can yield equally well higher-order terms in both the large and the small Prandtl number expansions for heat transfer to laminar boundary-layer flows. By means of this method an exact expression for the first-order correction to Lighthill's (1950) asymptotic formula for heat transfer at large Prandtl numbers, as well as an additional higher-order term for the small Prandtl number expansion of Morgan, Pipkin & Warner (1958), are derived. The results thus obtained are applicable to systems with non-isothermal surfaces and arbitrary planar or axisymmetric flow geometries. For the latter geometries a derivation is given of a higher-order term in the Péclet number expansion which arises from the curvature of the thermal layer for small Prandtl numbers. Finally, some applications of the results to ‘similarity’ flows are also presented.

A solution for the weak bore is found in which the mean profile is dominated by viscosity, so that the velocity variation is given essentially by a quasi-uniform Poiseuille flow. It is found that such a transition between flows of different depths is possible provided the Froude number is less than 1·58. The possibility of superposing an inviscid perturbation on such a flow is then investigated. Under favourable circumstances the effect of this perturbation is to add to the profile of the free surface a term which decays exponentially in front of the bore, but is oscillatory behind it.

The application of a heated thin metallic film to the measurement of mean skin friction in laminar and turbulent flow on a flat plate, circular cylinder and in an annular tunnel is described. The manner in which transition and separation are detected with this instrument is illustrated by reference to tests on a circular cylinder. The influence of the ambient air temperature and the gauge temperature on the behaviour of the instrument is analysed and it is shown that a reliable element can be constructed, capable of being moved from one location to another, while retaining its calibration. An element, calibrated on an oscillating flat plate, is used to obtain the spectral density of skin friction in a turbulent boundary layer.

The linearized stability problem for steady, cellular convection resulting from gradients in surface tension is examined in some detail. Earlier work by Pearson (1958) and Sternling & Scriven (1959, 1964) has been extended by considering the effect of gravity waves. In order to avoid the use of an assumed coupling mechanism at the interface, the relevant dynamical equations were retained for both phases. It is shown that the existence of a critical Marangoni number is assured, and that for many situations this critical value is essentially that which is appropriate to the case of a non-deformable interface. Usually, surface waves are important only at very small wave-numbers, but they are dominant for unusually thin layers of very viscous liquids.