Prandtl's boundary-layer theory is embedded as the first step in a systematic scheme of successive approximations for finding an asymptotic solution for viscous flow at large Reynolds number. The technique of inner and outer expansions is used to treat this singular-perturbation problem. Only analytic semi-infinite bodies free of separation are considered. The second approximation is analysed in detail for steady laminar flow past plane or axisymmetric solid bodies. Attention is restricted to low speeds and small temperature changes, so that the velocity field is that for an incompressible fluid, the temperature field being calculated subsequently. The additive effects are distinguished of longitudinal curvature, transverse curvature, external vorticity, external stagnation enthalpy gradient, and displacement speed. The effect of changing co-ordinates is examined, and the behaviour of the boundary-layer solution far downstream discussed. Application to specific problems will be made in subsequent papers.

The stability of a hard-core fluid jet is investigated under the assumption of small electrical conductivity of the fluid for parallel and antiparallel current systems. For axisymmetric deformations the parallel current has a destabilizing influence whereas the antiparallel current improves the stability of the configuration. However, for non-axisymmetric deformations characterized by m = 1, it is shown that the jet becomes unstable in general, both for parallel and antiparallel current systems. The presence of an external conductor has been shown to have a stabilizing influence on kink instability.

Measurements of the turbulent pressure field at the wall beneath a thick (5-inch) turbulent boundary layer produced by natural transition on a smooth surface are reported. The data include the mean-square pressure, parallel to the stream, and spatial correlation of the pressure transverse to the stream.

The root-mean-square wall pressure was 2.19 times the wall shear stress. The power spectra of the pressure were found to scale with the free-stream speed and the boundary-layer displacement thickness. A few tests with a rough surface showed that the increase in root-mean-square wall pressure was greater than the increase in wall shear stress.

The space-time correlation measurements parallel to the stream direction exhibit maxima at certain time delays corresponding to the convection of pressure-producing eddies at speeds varying from 0.56 to 0.83 times the stream speed. The lower convection speeds are measured when the spatial separation of the pressure transducers is small, or when only the pressure fluctuations at high frequencies are correlated. Higher convection speeds are observed when the spatial separation of the pressure transducers is large, or when only low frequencies are correlated. The result that low-frequency pressure fluctuations have the highest convection speed is in agreement with the measurements of Corcos (1959, 1962) in a fully turbulent tube flow. Analysis of these measurements also shows that both large- and small-scale pressure-producing eddies decay after travelling a distance proportional to their scale. More precisely, a pressure-producing eddy of large or small wavelength λ decays and vanishes after travelling a distance of approximately 6λ.

The transverse spatial correlation of the wall-pressure fluctuations was measured and compared with the longitudinal scale. Both the transverse and the longitudinal scale of the pressure fluctuations were of the order of the boundary-layer displacement thickness. The transverse and longitudinal scales of both large- and small-scale wall-pressure fluctuations were also measured and were also found to be approximately the same.

Possible solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are given representing certain finite disturbances in plane Poiseuille flow which vary with distance parallel to the bounding walls. These solutions are based on infinitesimal disturbances which vary exponentially with distance (upstream or downstream) instead of with time, and they are more closely related to the disturbances investigated experimentally than the corresponding ‘time-dependent’ solutions.

The frequency and amplification rates for a disturbance growing with respect to time are compared with those of a spatially-growing wave having the same wave-number. For small rates of amplification it is shown that the frequencies are equal to a high order of approximation, and that the spatial growth is related to the time growth by the group velocity.

The effect of viscous dissipation in natural convection is appreciable when the induced kinetic energy becomes appreciable compared to the amount of heat transferred. This occurs when either the equivalent body force is large or when the convection region is extensive. Viscous dissipation is considered here for vertical surfaces subject to both isothermal and uniform-flux surface conditions. A perturbation method is used and the first temperature perturbation function is calculated for Prandtl numbers from 10−2 to 104. The magnitude of the effect depends upon a dissipation number, which is not expressible in terms of the Grashof or the Prandtl number.

The velocity fields of three-dimensional viscous wakes are examined with the use of the boundary-layer approximations, Oseen's linearization of the convective terms, and the assumption of constant fluid properties. Transform methods yield solutions for general types of initial conditions. As an illustration, the axial velocity distribution of a wake whose initial isovels (lines of constant velocity) are of elliptic shape and their decay to axial symmetry are demonstrated. Both laminar and turbulent flows are considered.

Both the net linear momentum and the net angular momentum of a developing swirling flow can play important parts in determining its ultimate form. To illustrate this the turbulent wake with both axial and swirl components of mean velocity is discussed, in particular for the two limiting cases of domination by linear momentum and domination by angular momentum. The dual conservation of axial and angular momentum implies that in general the mean swirl component decreases more rapidly downstream than does the defect in the mean axial velocity. Hence wakes with non-zero momentum flux ultimately have the familiar length scale $\sim Z^{\frac{1}{3}$ and velocity defect scale $\sim Z^{-\frac{2}{3}$. But in the wake of a self-propelled body the net drag is negligible and a swirl-dominated development can persist with length scale $\sim Z^{\frac{1}{4}$ and swirl velocity scale $\sim Z^{-\frac{3}{4}$.

If water is heated or cooled while flowing through a vertical pipe with a laminar motion, the velocity profile will differ from the parabolic shape for isothermal flow due to density variations in the fluid. If a constant heat flux is used at the wall and if the changes in temperature affect only the density appearing in the gravity term of the equations of motion, a condition is attained far downstream in the heat-transfer section such that there is no further change in the velocity profile. The shape of this fully developed velocity profile depends on the ratio of the heat flux to the flow rate. The stability of flow in an electrically heated pipe 762 diameters long was studied by detecting temperature fluctuations in the effluent. By use of a carefully designed entry and a long isothermal section prior to the heat exchange section, inlet disturbances were eliminated and transition to an unsteady flow resulted from a natural instability of the distorted profiles. It was found that the stability depends primarily on the shape of the velocity profile and only secondarily on the value of the Reynolds number, if at all. For upflow heating the flow first becomes unstable when the velocity profiles develop points of inflexion. Transition to an unsteady flow involves the gradual growth of small disturbances and therefore it is quite possible to have unstable flows without observing transition because the pipe is not long enough for the disturbances to attain a measurable amplitude. For downflow heating the flow instability is associated with separation at the wall. Transition to an unsteady flow is sudden and therefore transition occurs shortly after an unstable flow occurs. It is suggested that a change from a steady symmetrical to a steady unsymmetrical flow occurs in downflow when the profile develops points of inflexion.

Formulas for the determination of the instability characteristics of unbounded parallel flow are obtained for the case of long waves, and applied, together with some general results, to give a qualitative description of the different modes of instability of such flows. It is found that there is a finite number of different modes unstable to long waves, essentially one for each relative maximum and minimum of the velocity profile. These modes appear to become stable when the wavelength is sufficiently small, reducing to neutral solutions associated with inflexion points as stability is approached. The formulas are also useful for quantitative calculation of instability characteristics.

According to Jeffery (1923) the axis of an isolated rigid neutrally buoyant ellipsoid of revolution in a uniform simple shear at low Reynolds number moves in one of a family of closed periodic orbits, the centre of the particle moving with the velocity of the undisturbed fluid at that point. The present work is a theoretical investigation of how far the orbit of a particle of more general shape in a non-uniform shear in the presence of rigid boundaries may be expected to be qualitatively similar. Inertial and non-Newtonian effects are entirely neglected.

The orientation of the axis of almost any body of revolution is a periodic function of time in any unidirectional flow, and also in a Couette viscometer. This is also true if there is a gravitational force on the particle in the direction of the streamlines. There is no lateral drift. On the other hand, certain extreme shapes, including some bodies of revolution, will assume one of two orientations and migrate to the bounding surfaces or to the centre of the flow. In any constant slightly three-dimensional uniform shear any body of revolution will ultimately assume a preferred orientation.

The shoreward travel of a bore into water at rest on a beach of uniform slope is studied to elucidate why, in a class of problems—mainly gas-dynamical ones involving non-uniform shock propagation—similarity solutions seem to act like magnets attracting other solutions. For the shallow-water problem, the real magnet is shown to be the shore singularity of the governing differential equations. The shore singularity of the solution is shown to be a directional singularity of the water acceleration, for a fairly wide range of conditions, and a rather detailed asymptotic approximation for the bore development near shore is deduced.