The Stokes equations describing the creeping motion of two arbitrary-sized touching spheres are solved exactly through the use of tangent-sphere coordinates. For the case of a linear shear field at infinity, explicit results covering the entire range of size ratios are presented for: (a) the forces and torques on the aggregate; (b) the hydrodynamic forces on the individual spheres comprising a freely suspended aggregate, which are in general non-zero; (c) the contribution of the pair to the bulk stress of a dilute suspension; and (d) under free suspension conditions, the velocity of any material point relative to that of the undisturbed flow.

An analysis is presented that is appropriate to three distinct phases in the temporal development of the flow past a semi-infinite vertical plate whose temperature is suddenly changed from that of the surrounding fluid. These are the initial stage when a one-dimensional solution describes the flow, then a local solution which describes the early stages of the departure from this, and finally an asymptotic solution which describes the manner in which the final steady state is achieved.

In deducing the viscous damping rate in surface waves confined by side walls, Ursell found in an example that two different calculations, one by energy dissipation within and the other by pressure working on the edge of the side-wall boundary layers, gave different answers. This discrepancy occurs in other examples also and is resolved here by examining the energy transfer in the neighbourhood of the free-surface meniscus. With due care near the meniscus a boundary-layer–Poincaré method is employed to give an alternative derivation for the rate of attenuation and to obtain in addition the frequency (or wave-number) shift due to viscosity. Surface tension is not considered.

Expansions have been given in the past for steady Stokes waves at or near a largest wave with a 120° corner. It is shown here that the solution is more complicated than has been assumed: that the corner is not a regular singular point, and that waves of less than maximum amplitude have singularities of a different order.

Burgers’ (1939) model equations for turbulence are considered analytically using a singular perturbation and nonlinear wave approach. The results indicate that there is an ultimate steady turbulent state. This is in agreement with the numerical results of Lee (1971) but not with Case & Chiu (1969): the last two papers start with a Fourier series approach.

A consequence of this model is that small disturbances ultimately grow into a single large domain of relatively smooth flow, accompanied by a vortex sheet in which strong vorticity is concentrated. This makes the results from the model different from those usually expected for turbulent flow fields. The model, as a result of its simplicity, has retained a degree of regularity which is not found in most forms of turbulence.

Conditionally sampled hot-wire measurements were taken in a pipe at Reynolds numbers corresponding to the onset of turbulence. The pipe was smooth and carefully aligned so that turbulent slugs appeared naturally at Re > 5 × 104. Transition could be initiated at lower Re by introducing disturbances into the inlet. For smooth or only slightly disturbed inlets, transition occurs as a result of instabilities in the boundary layer long before the flow becomes fully developed in the pipe. This type of transition gives rise to turbulent slugs which occupy the entire cross-section of the pipe, and they grow in length as they proceed downstream. The leading and trailing ‘fronts’ of a turbulent slug are clearly defined. A unique relation seems to exist between the velocity of the interface and the velocity of the fluid by which relaminarization of turbulent fluid is prevented. The length of slugs is of the same order of magnitude as the length of the pipe, although the lengths of individual slugs differ at the same flow conditions. The structure of the flow in the interior of a slug is identical to that in a fully developed turbulent pipe flow. Near the interfaces, where the mean motion changes from a laminar to a turbulent state, the velocity profiles develop inflexions. The total turbulent intensity near the interfaces is very high and it may reach 15% of the velocity at the centre of the pipe. A turbulent energy balance was made for the flow near the interfaces. All of the terms contributing to the energy balance must vanish identically somewhere on the interface if that portion of the interface does not entrain non-turbulent fluid. It appears that diffusion which also includes pressure transport is the most likely mechanism by which turbulent energy can be transferred to non-turbulent fluid. The dissipation term at the interface is negligible and increases with increasing turbulent energy towards the interior of the slug.

Mixed laminar and turbulent flows were observed far downstream for \[ 2000 < Re < 2700 \] when a large disturbance was introduced into the inlet. The flow in the vicinity of the inlet, however, was turbulent at much lower Re. The turbulent regions which are convected downstream at a velocity which is slightly smaller than the average velocity in the pipe we shall henceforth call puffs. The leading front of a puff does not have a clearly defined interface and the trailing front is clearly defined only in the vicinity of the centre-line. The length and structure of the puff is independent of the character of the obstruction which created it, provided that the latter is big enough to produce turbulent flow at the inlet. The puff will be discussed in more detail later.

Numerical solutions of finite-difference approximations to the Navier–Stokes equations have been obtained for the axisymmetric motion of a Boussinesq liquid in a rigidly bounded rotating annulus. For most of the cases studied, a temperature difference is maintained between the top and bottom surfaces such that essentially a basic stable density stratification is imposed on the fluid. The side walls are thermally insulated and the motion is driven by a differential rotation of the top surface. Approximate steady-state solutions are obtained for various values of the Rossby number ε and the stratification parameter S = N2/Ω2, where N is the Brunt–Väisälä frequency and Ω is the rotational frequency. The changes in the flow field with the variation of these parameters is studied. Particular attention is given to an investigation of the meridional, or up welling, circulation and its dependence on the stratification parameter. The effects on the flow of different boundary conditions, such as an applied stress driving, specified temperature at the side walls and an applied heat flux at the top and bottom surfaces, are also investigated.

The stability of a layer of Newtonian fluid confined between two horizontal disks which rotate with different angular velocities is studied. Both isothermal and adversely stratified fluids are considered for small shear rates at low to moderate Taylor numbers. The linearized formulation of the stability problem is given a finite-difference representation, and the resulting algebraic eigenvalue problem is solved using efficient numerical techniques. The critical parameters and disturbance orientations are determined as a function of the Taylor number for the isothermal flow, and for the stratified flow for Prandtl numbers of 0·025, 1·0 and 6·0.

At high Taylor numbers, the unstratified fluid flows in Ekman-like layers near the disks, and two modes of instability are noted: the viscous-type ‘class A’ travelling wave, whose existence depends on Coriolis forces, and the inflexional ‘class B’ mode, which is nearly stationary with respect to the nearer bounding disk. As the Taylor number is decreased, the Ekman layers coalesce to form a fully developed flow. In this regime there is a Taylor number below which the class A waves are always damped. The critical Reynolds number for the class B waves increases rapidly as the Taylor number approaches zero.

For Prandtl numbers of 1·0 and 6·0, the adversely stratified flow exhibits two distinct types of instability: convective and dynamical. At low Reynolds numbers, a stationary mode associated with Bénard convection in a rotating fluid is critical. It is stabilized and given orientation by the shear. At higher Reynolds numbers, the critical mode is a travelling wave of the nature of either the class A or class B waves, depending upon the Taylor number. For a Prandtl number of 0·025, the critical mode resembles oscillatory convection at small Reynolds numbers and a class A wave at larger shear rates.

It is shown that, for a spherically symmetric expansion of a gas into a low pressure, the shock wave with area change region discussed earlier (Freeman & Kumar 1972) can be further divided into two parts. For the Navier–Stokes equation, these are a region in which the asymptotic zero-pressure behaviour predicted by Ladyzhenskii is achieved followed further downstream by a transition to subsonic-type flow. The distance of this final region downstream is of order (pressure)−2/3 × (Reynolds number)−1/3.

Small amplitude forced horizontal or vertical oscillations of a container of liquid with a free surface may give rise to motions in the liquid on a scale much greater than the forcing amplitude. Three such situations are analysed and, in those cases where the response is still small compared with the dimensions of the container, explicit asymptotic solutions for the liquid motion are obtained.