An inviscid three-dimensional vortex-sheet model for the near field of a strong jet issuing from a pipe into a crossflow is derived. The solution for this model shows that the essential mechanisms governing this idealized flow are the distortion of the main transverse vorticity by the generation of additional axial and transverse vorticity within the pipe owing to the pressure gradients induced by the external flow, and the convection of both components of vorticity from the upwind side of the jet to its downwind side.

The deformation of the cross-section of the jet which is predicted by this model is compared with the deformation predicted by the commonly used time-dependent two-dimensional vortex-sheet model. Differences arise because the latter model does not take into account the effects of the transport of the transverse component of vorticity. The complete three-dimensional vortex-sheet model leads to a symmetrical deformation of the jet cross-section and no overall deflection of the jet in the direction of the stream.

To account for viscous effects, the initial region of a strong jet issuing into a uniform crossflow is modelled as an entraining three-dimensional vortex sheet, which acts like a sheet of vortices and sinks, redistributing the vorticity in the bounding shear layer and inducing non-symmetrical deformations of the cross-section of the jet. This leads to a deflection of the jet in the direction of the stream, and the loci of the centroids of the cross-sections of the jet describe a quadratic curve.

Deformations predicted by each of the three models are compared with measurements obtained from photographs of the cross-sections of a jet of air emerging into a uniform crossflow in a wind tunnel. Mean velocity measurements around the jet made with a hot-wire anemometer agree with the theory; they clearly invalidate models of jets based on ‘pressure drag’.

An ageostrophic version of Phillips’ model is studied. All instabilities found are systematically interpreted in terms of resonance of wave components. The instability occurs if there is a pair of wave components which propagate in the opposite direction to the basic flow and these wave components have almost the same Doppler-shifted frequency. A new instability, identified as a resonance between the Kelvin wave and the Rossby waves, is found at Froude number F ≈ 0.7. The Rossby waves are almost completely in geostrophic balance while the ageostrophic Kelvin wave is the same as in a one-layer system. Doppler shifting matches frequencies which would otherwise be very different. This instability is presumably the mechanism of the frontal instability observed by Griffiths & Linden (1982) in a laboratory experiment. Ageostrophic, baroclinic instability with non-zero phase speed is also observed in the numerical calculation. This instability is caused by resonance between different geostrophic modes.

The collapse of a compressed elastic tube conveying a flow occurs in several physiological applications and has become a problem of considerable interest. Laboratory experiments on a finite length of collapsible tube reveal a rich variety of self-excited oscillations, indicating that the system is a complex, nonlinear dynamical system. Following our previous study on steady flow in a two-dimensional model of the collapsible tube problem (Luo & Pedley 1995), we here investigate the instability of the steady solution, and details of the resulting oscillations when it is unstable, by studying the time-dependent problem. For this purpose, we have developed a time-dependent simulation of the coupled flow – membrane problem, using the Spine method to treat the moving boundary and a second-order time integration scheme with variable time increments.

It is found that the steady solutions become unstable as tension falls below a certain value, say Tu, which decreases as the Reynolds number increases. As a consequence, steady flow gives way to self-excited oscillations, which become increasingly complicated as tension is decreased from Tu. A sequence of bifurcations going through regular oscillations to irregular oscillations is found, showing some interesting dynamic features similar to those observed in experiments. In addition, vorticity waves are found downstream of the elastic section, with associated recirculating eddies which sometimes split into two. These are similar to the vorticity waves found previously for flow past prescribed, time-dependent indentations. It is speculated that the mechanism of the oscillation is crucially dependent on the details of energy dissipation and flow separation at the indentation.

As tension is reduced even further, the membrane is sucked underneath the downstream rigid wall and, although this causes the numerical scheme to break down, it in fact agrees with another experimental observation for flow in thin tubes.

We report measurements of the Nusselt number, $\hbox{\it Nu}$, in turbulent thermal convection in a cylindrical container of aspect ratio 4. The highest Rayleigh number achieved was $\hbox{\it Ra} \,{=}\, 2 \,{\times}\, 10^{13}$. Except for the last half a decade or so of $\hbox{\it Ra}$, experimental conditions obey the Boussinesq approximation accurately. For these conditions, the data show that the $\log\hbox{\it Nu}$–$\log\hbox{\it Ra}$ slope saturates at a value close to 1/3, as observed previously by us in experiments with smaller aspect ratios. The increasing slope over the last half a decade of $\hbox{\it Ra}$ is inconclusive because the corresponding conditions are non-Boussinesq. Finally, we report a modified scaling relation between the plume advection frequency and ${\hbox{\it Ra}}$ that collapses data for different aspect ratios.

We investigate the evolution of a finite release of fluid into an infinite, two-dimensional, horizontal, porous slab saturated with a fluid of different density and viscosity. The vertical boundaries of the slab are impermeable and the released fluid spreads as a gravity current along a horizontal boundary. At early times the released fluid fills the entire height of the layer, and the governing equation admits a self-similar solution that is a function of the viscosity ratio between the two fluids. This early similarity solution describes a tilting interface with tips propagating as x ∝ t1/2. At late times the released fluid has spread along the boundary and the height of the current is much smaller than the thickness of the layer. The governing equation simplifies and admits a different similarity solution that is independent of the viscosity ratio. This late similarity solution describes a point release of fluid in a semi-infinite porous half-space, where the tip of the interface propagates as x ∝ t1/3. The same simplification of the governing equation occurs if the viscosity of the released fluid is much higher than the viscosity of the ambient fluid. We have obtained an expression for the time when the solution transitions from the early to the late self-similar regime. The transition time increases monotonically with increasing viscosity ratio. The transition period during which the solution is not self-similar also increases monotonically with increasing viscosity ratio, for mobility ratios larger than unity. Numerical computations describing the full evolution of the governing equation show good agreement with the theoretical results. Estimates of the spreading of injected fluids over long times are important for geological storage of CO2, and for the migration of pollutants in aquifers. In all cases it is important to be able to anticipate when the spreading regime transitions from x ∝ t1/2 to x ∝ t1/3.

In this paper, we present a new passive control device for form-drag reduction in flow over a two-dimensional bluff body with a blunt trailing edge. The device consists of small tabs attached to the upper and lower trailing edges of a bluff body to effectively perturb a two-dimensional wake. Both a wind-tunnel experiment and large-eddy simulation are carried out to examine its drag-reduction performance. Extensive parametric studies are performed experimentally by varying the height and width of the tab and the spanwise spacing between the adjacent tabs at three Reynolds numbers of $\hbox{\it Re}\,{=}\,u_\infty h/\nu\,{=}\,20\,000$, 40 000 and 80 000, where $u_\infty$ is the free-stream velocity and $h$ is the body height. For a wide parameter range, the base pressure increases (i.e. drag reduces) at all three Reynolds numbers. Furthermore, a significant increase in the base pressure by more than 30% is obtained for the optimum tab configuration. Numerical simulations are performed at much lower Reynolds numbers of $\hbox{\it Re}\,{=}\,320$ and 4200 to investigate the mechanism responsible for the base-pressure increase by the tab. Results from the velocity measurement and numerical simulations show that the tab introduces the spanwise mismatch in the vortex-shedding process, resulting in a substantial reduction of the vortical strength in the wake and significant increases in the vortex formation length and wake width.

The use of the mild-slope approximation, which is invoked to simplify the problem of linear water wave diffraction-refraction by bed undulations, is reassessed by using a variational method. It is found that smooth approximations to the free surface elevation obtained by using the long-standing mild-slope equation are not consistent with the continuity of mass flow at locations where the bed slope is discontinuous. The use of interfacial jump conditions at such locations significantly improves the accuracy of approximations generated by the mild-slope equation and by the recently derived modified mild-slope equation. The variational principle is also used to produce a generalization of these equations and of the associated jump condition. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the main points of the theory.

The modal system describing nonlinear sloshing with inviscid flows in a rectangular rigid tank is revised to match both shallow fluid and secondary (internal) resonance asymptotics. The main goal is to examine nonlinear resonant waves for intermediate depth/breadth ratio 0.1 [lsim ] h/l [lsim ] 0.24 forced by surge/pitch excitation with frequency in the vicinity of the lowest natural frequency. The revised modal equations take full account of nonlinearities up to fourth-order polynomial terms in generalized coordinates and h/l and may be treated as a modal Boussinesq-type theory. The system is truncated with a high number of modes and shows good agreement with experimental data by Rognebakke (1998) for transient motions, where previous finite depth modal theories failed. However, difficulties may occur when experiments show significant energy dissipation associated with run-up at the walls and wave breaking. After reviewing published results on damping rates for lower and higher modes, the linear damping terms due to the linear laminar boundary layer near the tank's surface and viscosity in the fluid bulk are incorporated. This improves the simulation of transient motions. The steady-state response agrees well with experiments by Chester & Bones (1968) for shallow water, and Abramson et al. (1974), Olsen & Johnsen (1975) for intermediate fluid depths. When h/l [lsim ] 0.05, convergence problems associated with increasing the dimension of the modal system are reported.

The structure and development of turbulent plane jets in still air and moving streams are described. The nature of the small-scale turbulence cannot be accurately ascertained because of the difficulties inherent in the measurement of dissipation in highly turbulent flows. Although correlation measurements in a jet in still air indicate a large-scale structure which can best be described as ‘local flapping’, measurements in a jet in a moving stream do not reveal a similar structure. The development of the turbulence structure in a jet in a moving parallel stream is described and the properties of turbulent jets and wakes are shown to be reasonably well predicted by the use of a variable-eddy-viscosity formula together with the formal self-preserving properties of the equations of motion.

Turbulence characteristics of vertical air–solid pipe flow are investigated in this paper. Direct numerical simulations of the gas phase have been performed, while the solid particles have been simulated by a Lagrangian approach, including particle collisions. The modelling of wall roughness is shown to be important to obtain agreement with experimental data. Reynolds stresses and Reynolds stress budgets are given for both phases and for a wide range of solid–air mass load ratios (mass loads), varying from 0.11 to 30. Air turbulence intensities, Reynolds shear stress, and turbulence production reduce with increasing mass load. The mean air profile does not alter for low mass loads. In this regime, a simple theory predicts that the reduction of air turbulent production relative to unladen turbulent production is approximately equal to the mass load ratio. The insight that the solids Reynolds shear stress can be significant, even for low mass loads, is essential for this explanation. It is shown that at least two mechanisms cause the turbulence reduction. In addition to the classically recognized mechanism of dissipation of turbulent fluctuations by particles, there is another suppressing mechanism in inhomogeneous flows: the non-uniform relative velocity of the phases, created because particles slip at the wall, collide, and slowly react with the continuous phase. Investigation of the air turbulent kinetic energy equation demonstrates that the relative reduction of air pressure strain is larger than the reduction of turbulent production and dissipation, and pressure strain may therefore be a cause of the reduction of the other quantities. The fluctuational dissipation induced by the drag forces from particles is small compared to the other terms, but not negligible. For intermediate and high mass loads the air turbulence remains low. The relatively small turbulence intensities are not generated by the standard turbulent mechanisms any more, but directly caused by the particle motions. The particle–fluid interaction term in the turbulent kinetic energy equation is no longer dissipative, but productive instead. On increasing the mass load, the radial and azimuthal fluctuations of the particles grow. The corresponding reduction of solids anisotropy is an effect of the inter-particle collisions, which act as a solids pressure strain term. For intermediate and high mass loads, fluctuational drag force and particle collisions appear to be the relevant dissipation mechanisms in the solids fluctuational energy equation. In contrast to the air turbulent production, the solids ‘turbulent’ production term has the same level for low and high mass loads, while it attains a clear local minimum between. With increasing mass load, large-scale coherent turbulent fluid structures weaken, and eventually disappear. Simultaneously, the fluid fluctuations at relatively small length scales are enhanced by the motion of the particles. The highest particle concentration occurs near the wall for low mass loads, but on increasing the mass load, the concentration profile becomes uniform, while for the highest mass load particles accumulate in the centre of the pipe. Two-point correlation functions indicate that the addition of a small number of small solid particles to a clean pipe flow increases the streamwise length scale of the turbulence.

Kinetic-energy transport and turbulence production within the shear layer of a horizontal-axis wind-turbine wake are investigated with respect to their influence on the tip-vortex pairwise instability, the so-called leapfrogging instability. The study quantifies the effect of near-wake instability and tip-vortex breakdown on the process of mean-flow kinetic-energy transport within the far wake of the wind turbine, in turn affecting the wake re-energising process. Experiments are conducted in an open-jet wind tunnel with a wind-turbine model of 60 cm diameter at a diameter-based Reynolds number range $\mathit{Re}_{D}=150\,000{-}230\,000$. The velocity fields in meridian planes encompassing a large portion of the wake past the rotor are measured both in the unconditioned and the phase-locked mode by means of stereoscopic particle image velocimetry. The detailed topology and development of the tip-vortex interactions are discussed prior to a statistical analysis based on the triple decomposition of the turbulent flow fields. The study emphasises the role of the pairing instability as a precursor to the onset of three-dimensional vortex distortion and breakdown, leading to increased turbulent mixing and kinetic-energy transport across the shear layer. Quadrant analysis further elucidates the role of sweep and ejection events within the two identified mixing regimes. Prior to the onset of the instability, vortices shed from the blade appear to inhibit turbulent mixing of the expanding wake. The second region is dominated by the leapfrogging instability, with a sudden increase of the net entrainment of kinetic energy. Downstream of the latter, random turbulent motion characterises the flow, with a significant increase of turbulent kinetic-energy production. In this scenario, the leapfrogging mechanism is recognised as the triggering event that accelerates the onset of efficient turbulent mixing followed by the beginning of the wake re-energising process.

For convection in a porous medium the dependence of the Nusselt number on the Rayleigh number is examined to sixth order using an expansion for the Rayleigh number proposed by Kuo (1961). The results show very good agreement with experiment. Additionally, the abrupt change which is observed in the heat transport at a supercritical Rayleigh number may be explained by a breakdown of Darcy's law.

In an experimental and theoretical study we model the convection generated in the polar oceans when a fresh-water ice wall melts in salt water of uniform far-field temperature T∞, and salinity S∞. Our laboratory results show that there are three different flow regimes which depend on T∞ and S∞. First, when T∞ and S∞ lie between the maximum density curve and the freezing curve, the flow is only upward. Secondly, for the oceanic case 30 [les ] S∞ [les ] 35‰ and T∞ < 20°C, the flow consists of a laminar bidirectional flow at the bottom of the ice and a turbulent upward flow along the remainder of the ice wall. The laminar flow consists of an upward flowing layer approximately 2 mm thick inside of a downward flowing outer layer approximately 10 mm thick. Thirdly, for the same range of S∞ but for T∞ > 20°C, the flow reverses: at the top of the ice there is a laminar bidirectional flow above a downward turbulent flow. To model the turbulent upward flow theoretically, we numerically solve the governing equations in similarity form with a spatially varying eddy diffusivity that depends on the density difference between the ice-water interface and the far-field. The laboratory data then allows us to evaluate the dependence of eddy diffusivity on T∞ and S∞. The results show that the magnitude of the eddy diffusivity is of the same order as the molecular viscosity and that both mass injection at the interface and opposed buoyancy forces must be included in a realistic flow model. Finally, we use an integral approach to predict the far-field conditions that yield the high-temperature flow reversal and obtain a result consistent with our observations.

This paper reports the results of direct numerical simulation of the motion of a two-dimensional circular cylinder in Couette flow and in Poiseuille flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid. Both neutrally buoyant and non-neutrally buoyant cylinders are considered. The cylinder's motion and the mechanisms which cause the cylinders to migrate are studied. The stable equilibrium position of neutrally buoyant particles varies with inertia, elasticity, shear thinning and the blockage ratio of the channel in both shear flows. Shear thinning promotes the migration of the cylinder to the wall while inertia causes the cylinder to migrate away from the wall. The cylinder moves closer to the wall in a narrower channel. In a Poiseuille flow, the effect of elastic normal stresses is manifested by an attraction toward the nearby wall if the blockage is strong. If the blockage is weak, the normal stresses act through the curvature of the inflow velocity profile and generate a lateral force that points to the centreline. In both cases, the migration of particles is controlled by elastic normal stresses which in the limit of slow flow in two dimensions are compressive and proportional to the square of the shear rate on the body. A slightly buoyant cylinder in Couette flow migrates to an equilibrium position nearer the centreline of the channel in a viscoelastic fluid than in a Newtonian fluid. On the other hand, the same slightly buoyant cylinder in Poiseuille flow moves to a stable position farther away from the centreline of the channel in a viscoelastic fluid than in a Newtonian fluid. Marked effects of shear thinning are documented and discussed.

This paper numerically investigates the instability of Poiseuille flow in a fluid overlying a porous medium saturated with the same fluid. A three-layer configuration is adopted. Namely, a Newtonian fluid overlying a Brinkman porous transition layer, which in turn overlies a layer of Darcy-type porous material. It is shown that there are two modes of instability corresponding to the fluid and porous layers, respectively. The key parameters which affect the stability characteristics of the system are the depth ratio between the porous and fluid layers and the transition layer depth.

The equilibration of a symmetrically unstable density front is examined using linear stability theory and nonlinear numerical simulations. The initial state, chosen to approximate conditions in the surface ocean, consists of a weakly stratified mixed layer above a strongly stratified thermocline. Each layer has a uniform horizontal density gradient and a velocity field in thermal wind balance. The potential vorticity (PV) in the mixed layer is negative, indicating conditions favourable for symmetric instability. Once the instability reaches finite amplitude, a secondary Kelvin–Helmholtz (K-H) instability forms. Linear theory accurately predicts the time and the wavenumber at which the secondary instability occurs. Following the secondary instability, small-scale turbulence injects positive PV into the mixed layer from the thermocline and from the upper boundary, resulting in a rapid equilibration of the flow as the PV is brought back to zero. While the physical parameters used in this study correspond to typical conditions near a surface ocean front, many of the conclusions apply to symmetric instabilities in the atmosphere.

We simulate the moving contact line in two-dimensional chemically patterned channels using a diffuse-interface model with the generalized Navier boundary condition. The motion of the fluid–fluid interface in confined immiscible two-phase flows is modulated by the chemical pattern on the top and bottom surfaces, leading to a stick–slip behaviour of the contact line. The extra dissipation induced by this oscillatory contact-line motion is significant and increases rapidly with the wettability contrast of the pattern. A critical value of the wettability contrast is identified above which the effect of diffusion becomes important, leading to the interesting behaviour of fluid–fluid interface breaking, with the transport of the non-wetting fluid being assisted and mediated by rapid diffusion through the wetting fluid. Near the critical value, the time-averaged extra dissipation scales as U, the displacement velocity. By decreasing the period of the pattern, we show the solid surface to be characterized by an effective contact angle whose value depends on the material characteristics and composition of the patterned surfaces.

We examine available data from experiment and recent numerical simulations to explore the supposition that the scalar dissipation rate in turbulence becomes independent of the fluid viscosity when the viscosity is small and of scalar diffusivity when the diffusivity is small. The data are interpreted in the context of semi-empirical spectral theory of Obukhov and Corrsin when the Schmidt number, $\hbox{\it Sc}$, is below unity, and of Batchelor's theory when $\hbox{\it Sc}$ is above unity. Practical limits in terms of the Taylor-microscale Reynolds number, $R_\lambda$, as well as $\hbox{\it Sc}$, are deduced for scalar dissipation to become sensibly independent of molecular properties. In particular, we show that such an asymptotic state is reached if $R_\lambda \hbox{\it Sc}^{1/2}\,{\gg}\,1$ for $\hbox{\it Sc} \,{<}\, 1$, and if $\ln(\hbox{\it Sc})/R_\lambda\,{\ll}\,1$ for $\hbox{\it Sc} \,{>}\,1$.

We present results of direct numerical simulation of incompressible fluid flow over a thick bed of mobile spherically shaped particles. The algorithm is based upon the immersed-boundary technique for fluid–solid coupling and uses a soft-sphere model for the solid–solid contact. Two parameter points in the laminar flow regime are chosen, leading to the emergence of sediment patterns classified as ‘small dunes’, while one case under turbulent flow conditions leads to ‘vortex dunes’ with significant flow separation on the lee side. The wavelength, amplitude and propagation speed of the patterns extracted from the spanwise-averaged fluid–bed interface are found to be consistent with available experimental data. The particle transport rates are well represented by available empirical models for flow over a plane sediment bed in both the laminar and the turbulent regimes.

Coherent structures play an important role in the dynamics of turbulent shear flows. The ability to control coherent structures could have significant technological benefits with respect to flow phenomena such as skin friction drag, transition, mixing, and separation. This paper describes the development of an actuator concept that could be used in large arrays for actively controlling transitional and turbulent boundary layers. The actuator consists of a piezoelectrically driven cantilever mounted flush with the flow wall. When driven, the resulting flow disturbance over the actuator is a quasi-steady pair of counter-rotating streamwise vortices with common-flow away from the wall. The vortices decay rapidly downstream of the actuator; however, they produce a set of high- and low-speed streaks that persist far downstream (well over 40 displacement thicknesses). The amplitude of the actuator drive signal controls the strength of the generated vortices. The actuator is fast, compact, and generates a substantial disturbance in the flow. Its performance has been demonstrated using a small array of sensors and actuators in low-speed water laminar boundary layers with imposed steady and unsteady disturbances. Experiments are reported in which transition from a large disturbance was delayed by 40 displacement thicknesses, and in which the mean and spanwise variation of wall shear under an array of high- and low-speed streaks was substantially reduced downstream of a single transverse array of actuators.