The deformation of a liquid capsule enclosed by an elastic membrane in an infinite simple shear flow is studied numerically at vanishing Reynolds numbers using a boundary-element method. The surface of the capsule is discretized into quadratic triangular elements that form an evolving unstructured grid. The elastic membrane tensions are expressed in terms of the surface deformation gradient, which is evaluated from the position of the grid points. Compared to an earlier formulation that uses global curvilinear coordinates, the triangular-element formulation suppresses numerical instabilities due to uneven discretization and thus enables the study of large deformations and the investigation of the effect of fluid viscosities. Computations are performed for capsules with spherical, spheroidal, and discoidal unstressed shapes over an extended range of the dimensionless shear rate and for a broad range of the ratio of the internal to surrounding fluid viscosities. Results for small deformations of spherical capsules are in quantitative agreement with the predictions of perturbation theories. Results for large deformations of spherical capsules and deformations of non-spherical capsules are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations of synthetic capsules and red blood cells. We find that initially spherical capsules deform into steady elongated shapes whose aspect ratios increase with the magnitude of the shear rate. A critical shear rate above which capsules exhibit continuous elongation is not observed for any value of the viscosity ratio. This behaviour contrasts with that of liquid drops with uniform surface tension and with that of axisymmetric capsules subject to a stagnation-point flow. When the shear rate is sufficiently high and the viscosity ratio is sufficiently low, liquid drops exhibit continuous elongation leading to breakup. Axisymmetric capsules deform into thinning needles at sufficiently high rates of elongation, independent of the fluid viscosities. In the case of capsules in shear flow, large elastic tensions develop at large deformations and prevent continued elongation, stressing the importance of the vorticity of the incident flow. The long-time behaviour of deformed capsules depends strongly on the unstressed shape. Oblate capsules exhibit unsteady motions including oscillation about a mean configuration at low viscosity ratios and continuous rotation accompanied by periodic deformation at high viscosity ratios. The viscosity ratio at which the transition from oscillations to tumbling occurs decreases with the sphericity of the unstressed shape. Results on the effective rheological properties of dilute suspensions confirm a non-Newtonian shear-thinning behaviour.

Using a hot wire in a turbulent boundary layer in air, an experimental study has been made of the frequent periods of activity (to be called ‘bursts’) noticed in a turbulent signal that has been passed through a narrow band-pass filter. Although definitive identification of bursts presents difficulties, it is found that a reasonable characteristic value for the mean interval between such bursts is consistent, at the same Reynolds number, with the mean burst periods measured by Kline et al. (1967), using hydrogen-bubble techniques in water. However, data over the wider Reynolds number range covered here show that, even in the wall or inner layer, the mean burst period scales with outer rather than inner variables; and that the intervals are distributed according to the log normal law. It is suggested that these ‘bursts’ are to be identified with the ‘spottiness’ of Landau & Kolmogorov, and the high-frequency intermittency observed by Batchelor & Townsend. It is also concluded that the dynamics of the energy balance in a turbulent boundary layer can be understood only on the basis of a coupling between the inner and outer layers.

A series of observations on experimentally produced vortex rings is described. The flow field, ring velocity and growth rate were observed using dye and hydrogen-bubble techniques. It was found that stable rings are formed and grow in such a way that most of their vorticity is distributed throughout a fluid volume which is larger than and moving with the visible dye core.

As the vorticity diffuses out of this moving body of fluid into the outer irrotational fluid, it has two effects. It causes some of the fluid, with newly acquired vorticity, to be entrained into the interior of the bubble, while the rest is left behind and accounts for the appearance of ring vorticity in a wake. It was found that the velocity of translation U of these stable rings varies as t−1, at high Reynolds number, where t is the time measured from the start of the motion at a virtual origin at downstream infinity. A simple theoretical model is presented which explains all of these features of the observed stable flow. Rings of even higher Reynolds number become unstable and shed significantly more vorticity into the wake. Under some circumstances a new more stable vortex emerges from this shedding process and continues with less vorticity than before. Eventually, the ring motion ceases as all of its vorticity is deposited into the wake and is spread by viscous diffusion. Observations of the interaction between two nearly identical rings travelling a common path showed that, contrary to popular belief, rings do not pass back and forth through one another, but that the rearward one becomes entrained into the forward one. Only when the rearward ring has a much higher velocity than its partner can it emerge from the joining process and leave a slower-moving ring behind.

We apply a new kind of analytic technique, namely the homotopy analysis method (HAM), to give an explicit, totally analytic, uniformly valid solution of the two-dimensional laminar viscous flow over a semi-infinite flat plate governed by f‴(η)+αf(η)f″(η)+β[1−f′2(η)]=0 under the boundary conditions f(0)=f′(0)=0, f′(+∞)=1. This analytic solution is uniformly valid in the whole region 0[les ]η<+∞. For Blasius' (1908) flow (α=1/2, β=0), this solution converges to Howarth's (1938) numerical result and gives a purely analytic value f″(0)=0.332057. For the Falkner–Skan (1931) flow (α=1), it gives the same family of solutions as Hartree's (1937) numerical results and a related analytic formula for f″(0) when 2[ges ]β[ges ]0. Also, this analytic solution proves that when −0.1988[les ]β0 Hartree's (1937) family of solutions indeed possess the property that f′→1 exponentially as η→+∞. This verifies the validity of the homotopy analysis method and shows the potential possibility of applying it to some unsolved viscous flow problems in fluid mechanics.

The motion of a small, rigid sphere in a linear shear flow is considered. Saffman's analysis is extended to other asymptotic cases in which the particle Reynolds number based on its slip velocity is comparable with or larger than the square root of the particle Reynolds number based on the velocity gradient. In all cases, both particle Reynolds numbers are assumed to be small compared to unity. It is shown that, as the Reynolds number based on particle slip velocity becomes larger than the square root of the Reynolds number based on particle shear rate, the magnitude of the inertial migration velocity rapidly decreases to very small values. The latter behaviour suggests that contributions that are higher order in the particle radius may become important in some situations of interest.

The statistical features of turbulence can be studied either through spectral quantities, such as the kinetic energy spectrum, or through structure functions, which are statistical moments of the difference between velocities at two points separated by a variable distance. In this paper structure function relations for two-dimensional turbulence are derived and compared with calculations based on wind data from 5754 airplane flights, reported in the MOZAIC data set. For the third-order structure function two relations are derived, showing that this function is generally positive in the two-dimensional case, contrary to the three-dimensional case. In the energy inertial range the third-order structure function grows linearly with separation distance and in the enstrophy inertial range it grows cubically with separation distance. A Fourier analysis shows that the linear growth is a reflection of a constant negative spectral energy flux, and the cubic growth is a reflection of a constant positive spectral enstrophy flux. Various relations between second-order structure functions and spectral quantities are also derived. The measured second-order structure functions can be divided into two different types of terms, one of the form r2/3, giving a k−5/3-range and another, including a logarithmic dependence, giving a k−3-range in the energy spectrum. The structure functions agree better with the two-dimensional isotropic relation for larger separations than for smaller separations. The flatness factor is found to grow very fast for separations of the order of some kilometres. The third-order structure function is accurately measured in the interval [30, 300] km and is found to be positive. The average enstrophy flux is measured as Πω≈1.8×10−13 s−3 and the constant in the k−3-law is measured as [Kscr ]≈0.19. It is argued that the k−3-range can be explained by two-dimensional turbulence and can be interpreted as an enstrophy inertial range, while the k−5/3-range can probably not be explained by two-dimensional turbulence and should not be interpreted as a two-dimensional energy inertial range.

The dynamic deformation of a solid elastic sphere which is immersed in a viscous fluid and in close motion toward another sphere or a plane solid surface is presented. The deformed shape of the solid surfaces and the pressure profile in the fluid layer separating these surfaces are determined simultaneously via asymptotic and numerical techniques. This research provides the first steps in establishing rational criteria for predicting whether a solid particle will stick or rebound subsequent to impact during filtration or coagulation when viscous forces are important.

The waves generated in a two-dimensional fluid domain of infinite lateral extent and uniform depth by a deformation of the bounding solid boundary are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. An integral solution is developed for an arbitrary bed displacement (in space and time) on the basis of a linear approximation of the complete (nonlinear) description of wave motion. Experimental and theoretical results are presented for two specific deformations of the bed; the spatial variation of each bed displacement consists of a block section of the bed moving vertically either up or down while the time-displacement history of the block section is varied. The presentation of results is divided into two sections based on two regions of the fluid domain: a generation region in which the bed deformation occurs and a downstream region where the bed position remains stationary for all time. The applicability of the linear approximation in the generation region is investigated both theoretically and experimentally; results are presented which enable certain gross features of the primary wave leaving this region to be determined when the magnitudes of parameters which characterize the bed displacement are known. The results indicate that the primary restriction on the applicability of the linear theory during the bed deformation is that the total amplitude of the bed displacement must remain small compared with the uniform water depth; even this restriction can be relaxed for one type of bed motion.

Wave behaviour in the downstream region of the fluid domain is discussed with emphasis on the gradual growth of nonlinear effects relative to frequency dispersion duringpropagationand the subsequent breakdown of the linear theory. A method is presented for finding the wave behaviour in the far field of the downstream region, where the effects of nonlinearities and frequency dispersion have become about equal. This method is based on the use of a model equation in the far field (which includes both linear and nonlinear effects in an approximate manner) first used by Peregrine (1966) and morerecently advocated by Ben jamin, Bona & Mahony (1972) as a preferable model to the more commonly used equation of Korteweg & de Vries (1895). An input-output approach is illustrated for the numerical solution of this equation where the input is computed from the linear theory in its region of applicability. Computations are presented and compared with experiment for the case of a positive bed displacement where the net volume of the generated wave is finite and positive; the results demonstrate the evolution of a train of solitary waves (solitons) ordered by amplitude followed by a dispersive train of oscillatory waves. The case of a negative bed displacement in which the net wave volume is finite and negative (and the initial wave is negative almost everywhere) is also investigated; the results suggest that only a dispersive train of waves evolves (no solitons) for this case.

The effect of the transverse motion of a cylinder on its natural vortex wake is examined at various driving frequencies giving special attention to the change in wake geometry along the span. Conditions are established for which the vortex wake frequency is controlled by the driving frequency of the cylinder.

This paper reports on a series of large-eddy simulations of a round jet issuing normally into a crossflow. Simulations were performed at two jet-to-crossflow velocity ratios, 2.0 and 3.3, and two Reynolds numbers, 1050 and 2100, based on crossflow velocity and jet diameter. Mean and turbulent statistics computed from the simulations match experimental measurements reasonably well. Large-scale coherent structures observed in experimental flow visualizations are reproduced by the simulations, and the mechanisms by which these structures form are described. The effects of coherent structures upon the evolution of mean velocities, resolved Reynolds stresses, and turbulent kinetic energy along the centreplane are discussed. In this paper, the ubiquitous far-field counter-rotating vortex pair is shown to originate from a pair of quasi-steady ‘hanging’ vortices. These vortices form in the skewed mixing layer that develops between jet and crossflow fluid on the lateral edges of the jet. Axial flow through the hanging vortex transports vortical fluid from the near-wall boundary layer of the incoming pipe flow to the back side of the jet. There, the hanging vortex encounters an adverse pressure gradient and breaks down. As this breakdown occurs, the vortex diameter expands dramatically, and a weak counter-rotating vortex pair is formed that is aligned with the jet trajectory.

The discrete infinite-dimensional modal system describing nonlinear sloshing of an incompressible fluid with irrotational flow partially occupying a tank performing an arbitrary three-dimensional motion is derived in general form. The tank has vertical walls near the free surface and overturning waves are excluded. The derivation is based on the Bateman–Luke variational principle. The free surface motion and velocity potential are expanded in generalized Fourier series. The derived infinite-dimensional modal system couples generalized time-dependent coordinates of free surface elevation and the velocity potential. The procedure is not restricted by any order of smallness. The general multidimensional structure of the equations is approximated to analyse sloshing in a rectangular tank with finite water depth. The amplitude–frequency response is consistent with the fifth-order steady-state solutions by Waterhouse (1994). The theory is validated by new experimental results. It is shown that transients and associated nonlinear beating are important. An initial variation of excitation periods is more important than initial conditions. The theory is invalid when either the water depth is small or water impacts heavily on the tank ceiling. Alternative expressions for hydrodynamic loads are presented. The procedure facilitates simulations of a coupled vehicle–fluid system.

The bursting process in turbulent boundary layers provides new insight on turbulence phenomena, mechanics of sedimentation, and genesis of bedforms in natural geophysical flows. Recent visualization experiments suggest that the turbulent boundary layer can be divided into an inner zone, whose essential characteristics scale with inner (wall) variables, and an outer zone, whose properties scale with the fluid-dynamic variables of the entire flow. The inner zone is distinguished by (i) a viscous sublayer displaying spanwise alternations of high-and low-speed streaks and (ii) episodic disruption by lift-ups of low-speed streaks. Oscillatory growth and breakup stages of the Stanford model of bursting characterize the turbulent structure of the outer zone. The burst cycle exists in turbulent boundary layers of all natural flows except perhaps (i) open-channel flows in the upper part of the upper flow regime and (ii) wind-generated surface waves.

Fluid motions described as kolks and boils in incompressible open-channel flows correspond to the oscillatory growth stage and the late oscillatory growth and breakup stages, respectively, of the Stanford model of bursting. Supporting evidence includes (i) close similarity of gross fluid motions, (ii) equivalent scaling of boils and bursts, and (iii) intensification of boils and bursts in adverse pressure gradients and over rough beds. McQuivey's (1973) turbulence measurements show that the Eulerian integral time scale TE scales with the same outer variables as boil periodicity and burst periodicity. It is hypothesized that TE equals the mean duration of bursts at a point in the flow.

Bedforms governed by the turbulent structure of the inner zone (microforms) cannot form if the sublayer is disrupted by bed roughness. The conditions for the existence of two common microforms and their spacings scale with the inner variables. Grain roughness increases the vertical intensity of the turbulence (by enhancing lift-ups) within the inner zone, thereby explaining textural differences between the coarse ripple and fine ripple bed stages of Moss (1972).

Mesoforms respond to the fluid-dynamical regime in the outer zone and scale with the outer variables. The mean spacing of dunelike large-scale ripples in equilibrium open-channel flows is proportional to the boundary-layer thickness and equals the length scale formed by the product of the free-stream velocity and the boil period.

Strong upward flow in a burst provides the vertical anisotropy in the turbulence which is needed to suspend sediment. Bursting promotes the entrain-ment of more and coarser sediment than tractive forces alone can accomplish.

The collisional dynamics of equal-sized water and normal-alkane droplets, in the 150 μm radius range, have been experimentally studied for situations involving 0(1) droplet Weber numbers and head-on to grazing impact parameters. Results show that in the parametric range investigated the behaviour of hydrocarbon droplets is significantly more complex than that of water droplets. For head-on collisions, while permanent coalescence always results for water droplets, the outcome is quite nonmonotonic for the hydrocarbon droplets in that, with increasing droplet Weber number, the collision can result in permanent coalescence, bouncing, permanent coalescence again, and coalescence followed by separation with or without production of satellite droplets. Similar complexities exist for off-centre collisions. Phenomenological explanations are offered for these observations based on the material properties of the fluids, the relative influences of the normal and shearing aspects of the collision, and the nature and extent of energy dissipation due to droplet deformation during collision.

Exploratory experiments have been performed on circular cylinders executing forced rotary oscillations in a steady uniform flow. Flow visualization and wake profile measurements at moderate Reynolds numbers have shown that a considerable amount of control can be exerted over the structure of the wake by such means. In particular, a large increase, or decrease, in the resulting displacement thickness, estimated cylinder drag, and associated mixing with the free stream can be achieved, depending on the frequency and amplitude of oscillation.

Self-diffusion coefficients were determined experimentally for lateral dispersion of spherical and disk-like particles in linear shear flow of a slurry at very low Reynolds number. Using a concentric-cylinder Couette apparatus, recurrent observations were made of the lateral position of a particular radioactively labelled particle. The self-diffusion coefficient D was calculated by means of random-walk theory, using the ergodic hypothesis. Owing to great experimental difficulties, the calculated values of D are not of high accuracy, but are correct to within a factor of two. In the range 0 < ϕ < 0·2, D/a2ω increases from zero linearly with ϕ up to D/a2ω ≅ 0·02 (where ϕ = volumetric concentration of particles, a = particle radius, ω = mean shear rate of suspending fluid). In the range 0·2 < 0·5, the trend of D/a2ω is not clear because of experimental scatter, but in this range D/a2ω ≅ 0·025 to within a factor of two. Within the experimental accuracy, spheres and disks have the same value of D/a2ω.

Three-dimensional flows over impulsively translated low-aspect-ratio flat plates are investigated for Reynolds numbers of 300 and 500, with a focus on the unsteady vortex dynamics at post-stall angles of attack. Numerical simulations, validated by an oil tow-tank experiment, are performed to study the influence of aspect ratio, angle of attack and planform geometry on the wake vortices and the resulting forces on the plate. Immediately following the impulsive start, the separated flows create wake vortices that share the same topology for all aspect ratios. At large time, the tip vortices significantly influence the vortex dynamics and the corresponding forces on the wings. Depending on the aspect ratio, angle of attack and Reynolds number, the flow at large time reaches a stable steady state, a periodic cycle or aperiodic shedding. For cases of high angles of attack, an asymmetric wake develops in the spanwise direction at large time. The present results are compared to higher Reynolds number flows. Some non-rectangular planforms are also considered to examine the difference in the wakes and forces. After the impulsive start, the time at which maximum lift occurs is fairly constant for a wide range of flow conditions during the initial transient. Due to the influence of the tip vortices, the three-dimensional dynamics of the wake vortices are found to be quite different from the two-dimensional von Kármán vortex street in terms of stability and shedding frequency.

The structure of velocity in the outer region of turbulent channel flow (y+ [gsim ] 100) is examined statistically to determine the average flow field associated with spanwise vortical motions. Particle image velocimetry measurements of the streamwise and wall-normal velocity components are correlated with a vortex marker (swirling strength) in the streamwise–wall-normal plane, and linear stochastic estimation is used to estimate the conditional average of the two-dimensional velocity field associated with a swirling motion. The mean structure consists of a series of swirling motions located along a line inclined at 12°–13° from the wall. The pattern is consistent with the observations of outer-layer wall turbulence in which groups of hairpin vortices occur aligned in the streamwise direction. While the observational evidence for the aforementioned model was based upon both experimental and computational visualization of instantaneous structures, the present results show that, on average, the instantaneous structures occur with sufficient frequency, strength, and order to leave an imprint on the statistics of the flow as well. Results at Reτ = 547 and 1734 are presented.

The influence of surface roughness on the vortex-shedding frequency in the wake of a single cylinder has been investigated. The experiments were carried out in an atmospherical and a high-pressure wind tunnel. The tests were started with a smooth cylinder. Then the wake flow of cylinders with relative roughnesses of ks/d = 75 × 10−5, 300 × 10−5, 900 × 10−5, and 3000 × 10−5 was investigated.

For all roughness parameters tested the Strouhal number exhibited an increase in the critical flow regime. With growing roughness parameter the step in the curve became smaller. At transcritical flow conditions the Strouhal number was measured to be in the range of Sr = 0·25 ± 0·018 for all surface roughness tested. No regular vortex shedding could be observed in the critical flow range for the smooth cylinder with l/d = 3·38. When prolonging the test body to l/d = 6·75 the wake fluctuations became periodic.

We present the results of a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the normal impact of hydrophobic spheres on a water surface. Particular attention is given to characterizing the shape of the resulting air cavity in the low Bond number limit, where cavity collapse is driven principally by surface tension rather than gravity. A parameter study reveals the dependence of the cavity structure on the governing dimensionless groups. A theoretical description based on the solution to the Rayleigh–Besant problem is developed to describe the evolution of the cavity shape and yields an analytical solution for the pinch-off time in the zero Bond number limit. The sphere's depth at cavity pinch-off is also computed in the low Weber number, quasi-static limit. Theoretical predictions compare favourably with our experimental observations in the low Bond number regime, and also yield new insight into the high Bond number regime considered by previous investigators. Discrepancies are rationalized in terms of the assumed form of the velocity field and neglect of the longitudinal component of curvature, which together preclude an accurate description of the cavity for depths less than the capillary length. Finally, we present a theoretical model for the evolution of the splash curtain formed at high Weber number and couple it with the underlying cavity dynamics.

The drying of a drop of human blood exhibits coupled physical mechanisms, such as Marangoni flow, evaporation and wettability. The final stage of a whole blood drop evaporation reveals regular patterns with a good reproducibility for a healthy person. Other experiments on anaemic and hyperlipidaemic people were performed, and different patterns were revealed. The flow motion inside the blood drop is observed and analysed with the use of a digital camera: the influence of the red blood cells motion is revealed at the drop periphery as well as its consequences on the final stage of drying. The mechanisms which lead to the final pattern of the dried blood drops are presented and explained on the basis of fluid mechanics in conjunction with the principles of haematology. The blood drop evaporation process is evidenced to be driven only by Marangoni flow. The same axisymmetric pattern formation is observed, and can be forecast for different blood drop diameters. The evaporation mass flux can be predicted with a good agreement, assuming only the knowledge of the colloids mass concentration.