A velocity-defect law for channel flow is shown to result from the single requirement of Reynolds-stress spectral ‘smoothness’ for any mean profile maintained free of inflexions by transient instabilities. The deduced velocity is a logarithmic function of position near boundaries and parabolic in mid-regions of the flow, independent of the detailed mechanisms of momentum transport by the fluid. However, if the ‘smoothness’ of the spectral tail is decreased, a second logarithmic layer of steeper slope emerges inside the first layer. Profile data from drag-reduction experiments gathered by Virk (1975) exhibit the deduced inner log layer and its transition region to the usual outer flow.

Temperature-sensitive constant-current wires operating at very low resistance ratios have been tested for temperature fluctuation response. A significant step in the response was found to occur with a centre-frequency of typically 1/6 Hz. The step size was observed to be as large as 30% and grew from zero to its maximum value in about a decade. Analysis shows that this phenomenon is associated with axial conduction of heat to and from the prongs. If it is recognized that prongs have finite thermal inertia then a modification of the boundary conditions to the equations of Betchov (1948) predicts this step, in agreement with the simple asymptotic analysis of Maye (1970).

Experiments indicate that a similar phenomenon occurs with velocity-sensitive wires. Axial conduction appears to be the most likely cause. Aeroelastic deflexions and non-uniform cooling caused by bowing of the wire make precise predictions impossible. Here the differences in step size between wires were observed to be as large as 10% (or 20% in mean-square energy), the centre-frequency was usually beyond 10 Hz for the wires tested and the step extended over a much broader frequency range than in the temperature-sensitive case. The effect occurred at all velocities, resistance ratios and wire geometries. An analysis based on non-uniform cooling of the wire filament predicts the correct frequency range and shows that steps of 10% in frequency response are quite plausible.

The entrance region has been divided into two parts, the inlet region and the filled region. At the end of the inlet region, the boundary layers meet at the pipe axis but the velocity profiles are not yet similar. In the filled region, adjustment of the completely viscous profile takes place until the Poiseuille similar profile is attained at the end of it. The boundary-layer equations in the inlet region and the Navier-Stokes equations with order-of-magnitude analysis in the filled region are solved using fourth-degree velocity profiles. The total length of the entrance region so obtained is ξ = x/R Re = 0·150, whereas the boundary layers are observed to meet at approximately one-quarter of the entrance length, i.e. at ξ = 0·036. Experiments reported in the paper corroborate the analytical results.

The effects of rotation on a salt-fingering interface between two mixed layers are studied experimentally. It is found that rotation causes an interface to thicken more rapidly than it does in the corresponding non-rotating experiment. In order to interpret this result, the collective-instability model of Stern (1969, 1975) is extended to include the Coriolis effect and the neutral-stability condition is derived. Rotation stabilizes the fingers, the degree of stabilization being dependent on the wavenumber of the perturbation. By assuming equal fluxes in the rotating and non-rotating experiments, the interface thickness data are found to be consistent with the extended collective-instability model.

A numerical analysis of two-dimensional wave scattering problems is performed. The treatment relies on the parabolic approximation and provides the forward scattered wave field. Two problems are considered in particular: (i) the scattering of plane waves by a cylindrical inhomogeneity of uniform refraction index, (ii) the scattering of plane waves by a viscous core vortex. The structure of the scattered field is examined in detail and the numerical solutions of the two problems are compared to analytical results obtained in the Born approximation and interpreted according to the method of smooth perturbation.

The entrainment experiments of Kato & Phillips (1969) and Kantha, Phillips & Azad (1977) (hereafter KP and KPA) are analysed to demonstrate a more general and effective scaling of the entrainment observations. The preferred scaling is \[ V^{-1} dh/dt = E(R_v), \] where h is the mixed-layer depth, V is the mean velocity of the mixed layer, Rv = B/V2 and B is the total mixed-layer buoyancy. This scaling effectively collapses entrainment data taken at various h/L, where L is the tank width, and in cases in which the interior is density stratified (KP) or homogeneous (KPA). The entrainment law E(Rv) is computed from the KP and KPA observations using the conservation equations for mean momentum and buoyancy. A side-wall drag term is included in the momentum conservation equation. In the range 0·5 < Rv < 1·0, which includes nearly all of the KP, KPA data, E ≃ 5 × 10−4R−4v. This is very similar to the entrainment law followed by a surface half-jet (Ellison & Turner 1959) and by the wind-driven ocean surface mixed layer (Price, Mooers & Van Leer 1978).

The analysis shows that, when forcing is steady, Rv is quasi-steady and, provided that side-wall drag is not large, Rv ≃ 0·6 over a wide range of RT = B/U2*, where U* is the friction velocity of the imposed stress. In the absence of side-wall drag (vanishing h/L) the conservation of momentum then leads to U−1*dh/dt = n(0·6)½R−½T, where n = ½ or 1 if the interior is linearly stratified or homogeneous. The KP, KPA data show this dependence throughout the range 17 < RT < 160 where the effect of side-wall drag is negligible or can be removed by a linear extrapolation. This result, together with the form and magnitude of the observed side-wall effect, suggests that mean momentum conservation is a key constraint upon the entrainment rate in the KP, KPA experiments.

This note presents measurements of radial and axial distributions of mean velocity, turbulent intensities and kinetic energy as well as radial distributions of the turbulent shear stress in the initial region of a turbulent air jet issuing from a long round pipe into still air. The pipe flow is transformed relatively smoothly into a jet flow. In the core subregion the mean centre-line velocity decreases slightly. The highest turbulence occurs at an axial distance of about 6d and radius of (0·7 to 0·8)d. On the axis the highest turbulent kinetic energy appears at a distance of (7·5 to 8·5)d. Normalized distributions of the turbulent quantities are in good agreement with known data on the developed region of jets issuing from short nozzles.

Experiments were conducted in the free-piston shock tube and shock tunnel with dissociating nitrogen and carbon dioxide, ionizing argon and frozen argon to measure the transition condition in pseudosteady and steady flow. The transition condition in the steady flow, in which the wall was eliminated by symmetry, agrees with the calculated von Neumann condition. In the real gases this calculation assumed thermo-dynamic equilibrium after the reflected shock. In the pseudosteady flow of reflexion from a wedge the measured transition angle lies on the Mach-reflexion side of the calculated detachment condition by an amount which may be explained in terms of the displacement effect of the boundary layer on the wedge surface. A single criterion based on the availability of a length scale at the reflexion point explains the difference between the pseudosteady and steady flow transition condition and predicts a hysteresis effect in the transition angle when the shock angle is varied during steady flow. No significant effects on the transition condition due to finite relaxation length could be detected. However, new experiments in which interesting relaxation effects should be evident are suggested.

This paper develops an alternative approach to evaluating the arbitrary constants found in Gill's solution for the boundary-layer free-convection regime in a vertical rectangular enclosure. The new method consists of calculating the net upward flow of energy through the enclosure and setting it equal to zero near the top and bottom boundaries of the cavity. The present method takes into account the impermeable and adiabatic properties of the horizontal end walls. The overall Nusselt number derived on this new basis is shown to agree well with available experimental and numerical heat-transfer correlations.

The mixing of rain with otherwise calm near-surface water is investigated experimentally, using both uniform drops and crude drop-size distributions. The results are interpreted in terms of mixed-layer depths and the upward entrainment of quiescent water. Large drops, even in quite small numbers, are shown to play a very important role in the mixing process. Entrainment coefficients vary as the inverse of a suitably defined bulk Richardson number, and behave similarly in both fresh and salt receiving water.

A statistical theory is developed for the structure and propagation velocity of premixed flames in turbulent flows with scales large compared with the laminar flame thickness. The analysis, free of usual closure assumptions, involves a regular perturbation for small values of the ratio of laminar flame thickness to turbulence scale, termed the scale ratio ε, and a singular perturbation for large values of the non-dimensional activation temperature β. Any effects of the flame on the flow are considered to be given. In this initial study, molecular coefficients for diffusion of heat and reactants are set equal. The results identify convective-diffusive and reactive-diffusive zones in the flame and predict thickening of the flame by turbulence through streamwise displacement of the reactive-diffusive zone. Profiles for intensities of temperature fluctuations and for streamwise turbulent transport are obtained. A fundamental quantity occurring in the analysis is the longitudinal displacement of the reactive-diffusive zone in an Eulerian frame by turbulent fluctuations, and to first order in the scale ratio this equals the longitudinal displacement of fluid elements in an Eulerian frame by turbulent fluctuations, herein termed simply the Eulerian displacement. To first order in the scale ratio it is found that, if the Eulerian displacement experiences the same type of statistical non-stationarity as the corresponding Lagrangian displacement, then the diffusion approximation is valid for streamwise turbulent transport but the turbulent flame thickens as time increases, while if the Eulerian displacement is statistically stationary then the diffusion approximation necessitates a negative coefficient of diffusion in part of the flame but the flame thickness remains constant. By carrying the analysis to second order in the scale ratio it is shown that the turbulent-flame speed exceeds the laminar-flame speed by an amount proportional to the mean square of the transverse gradient of the Eulerian displacement. This result can be understood from the mechanistic viewpoint of a wrinkled laminar flame in terms of the increase in flame area produced by turbulence. Thus the theory provides a precise statistical quantification of the model of the wrinkled laminar flame for describing structures of turbulent flames.