The generation and evolution of two-dimensional bores in water of uniform depth and on sloping beaches are simulated through numerical solution of the Euler equations using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method, wherein particles are followed in Lagrangian fashion, avoiding the need for computational grids. In water of uniform depth, a piston wavemaker produces cyclically breaking bores in the Froude number range 1.37–1.82, which were shown to move at time-averaged speeds in very good agreement with the requirements of global mass and momentum conservation. A single Strouhal number for the breaking period was discovered. Complex repetitive splashing patterns are observed and described, involving forward jet formation growth, impact and ricochet, and similarly, backward jet formation and impact. Observed consequences were the creation of vortical regions of both signs, dipole creation through pairing, large-scale transport of surface water downward and high tangential scouring velocities on the bed, which are quantified. These bores are further allowed to rise on linear slopes to the shoreline, where they are seen to collapse into a tongue-like flow resembling dam-break evolution.

This essentially inviscid calculation is able to reproduce the development of a highly vortical flow in excellent agreement with experimental observations and theoretical concepts. The turbulent flow behaviour is partially described by the numerical solution.

A body moves at uniform speed in an unbounded inviscid fluid. Initially, the body is infinitely far upstream of an infinite plane of marked fluid; later, the body moves through and distorts the plane and, finally, the body is infinitely far downstream of the marked plane. Darwin (1953) suggested that the volume between the initial and final positions of the surface of marked fluid (the drift volume) is equal to the volume of fluid associated with the ‘added-mass’ of the body.

We re-examine Darwin's (1953) concept of drift and, as an illustration, we study flow around a sphere. Two lengthscales are introduced: ρmax, the radius of a circular plane of marked particles; and x0, the initial separation of the sphere and plane. Numerical solutions and asymptotic expansions are derived for the horizontal Lagrangian displacement of fluid elements. These calculations show that depending on its initial position, the Lagrangian displacement of a fluid element can be either positive – a Lagrangian drift – or negative – a Lagrangian reflux. By contrast, previous investigators have found only a positive horizontal Lagrangian displacement, because they only considered the case of infinite x0. For finite x0, the volume between the initial and final positions of the plane of marked fluid is defined to be the ‘partial drift volume’, which is calculated using a combination of the numerical solutions and the asymptotic expansions. Our analysis shows that in the limit corresponding to Darwin's study, namely that both x0 and ρmax become infinite, the partial drift volume is not well-defined: the ordering of the limit processes is important. This explains the difficulties Darwin and others noted in trying to prove his proposition as a mathematical theorem and indicates practical, as well as theoretical, criteria that must be satisfied for Darwin's result to hold.

We generalize our results for a sphere by re-considering the general expressions for Lagrangian displacement and partial drift volume. It is shown that there are two contributions to the partial drift volume. The first contribution arises from a reflux of fluid and is related to the momentum of the flow; this part is spread over a large area. It is well-known that evaluating the momentum of an unbounded fluid is problematic since the integrals do not converge; it is this first term which prevented Darwin from proving his proposition as a theorem. The second contribution to the partial drift volume is related to the kinetic energy of the flow caused by the body: this part is Darwin's concept of drift and is localized near the centreline. Expressions for partial drift volume are generalized for flow around arbitrary-shaped two- and three-dimensional bodies. The partial drift volume is shown to depend on the solid angles the body subtends with the initial and final positions of the plane of marked fluid. This result explains why the proof of Darwin's proposition depends on the ratio ρmax/x0.

An example of drift due to a sphere travelling at the centre of a square channel is used to illustrate the differences between drift in bounded and unbounded flows.

We present an analytical, numerical and experimental study of advective dispersion in isotachophoresis (ITP). We analyse the dynamics of the concentration field of a focused analyte in peak mode ITP. The analyte distribution is subject to electromigration, diffusion and advective dispersion. Advective dispersion results from strong internal pressure gradients caused by non-uniform electro-osmotic flow (EOF). Analyte dispersion strongly affects the sensitivity and resolution of ITP-based assays. We perform axisymmetric time-dependent numerical simulations of fluid flow, diffusion and electromigration. We find that analyte properties contribute greatly to dispersion in ITP. Analytes with mobility values near those of the trailing (TE) or leading electrolyte (LE) show greater penetration into the TE or LE, respectively. Local pressure gradients in the TE and LE then locally disperse these zones of analyte penetration. Based on these observations, we develop a one-dimensional analytical model of the focused sample zone. We treat the LE, TE and LE–TE interface regions separately and, in each, assume a local Taylor–Aris-type effective dispersion coefficient. We also performed well-controlled experiments in circular capillaries, which we use to validate our simulations and analytical model. Our model allows for fast and accurate prediction of the area-averaged sample distribution based on known parameters including species mobilities, EO mobility, applied current density and channel dimensions. This model elucidates the fundamental mechanisms underlying analyte advective dispersion in ITP and can be used to optimize detector placement in detection-based assays.

The nonlinear resonant-triad interaction, proposed by Raetz (1959). Craik (1971), and others for a Blasius boundary layer, is analysed here for an adverse-pressure-gradient boundary layer. We assume that the adverse pressure gradient is in some sense weak and, therefore, that the instability growth rate is small. This ensures that there is a well-defined critical layer located somewhere within the flow and that the nonlinear interaction is effectively confined to that layer. The initial interaction is of the parametric resonance type, even when the modal amplitudes are all of the same order. This means that the oblique instability waves exhibit faster than exponential growth and that the growth rate of the two-dimensional mode remains linear. However, the interaction and the resulting growth rates become fully coupled, once oblique-mode amplitudes become sufficiently large, but the coupling terms are now quartic, rather than quadratic as in the Craik (1971) analysis. More importantly, however, new nonlinear interactions, which were not present in the Craik-type analyses, now come into play. These interactions eventually have a dominant effect on the instability wave development.

We investigate experimentally the up- and downstream flow around an insulating cylinder in a conducting fluid subjected to an aligned magnetic field for low values of the magnetic Reynolds number Rm. For high values of the Alfvén number α = B0/U0(ρμ0)½ the upstream flow is characterized by magnetic and kinematic wakes. In this configuration we have measured, for the first time, the local values of the induced magnetic field. The results were analysed in a confined situation and show that the Oseen number k = ½Rm(1-α2) is the main parameter that characterizes the perturbation. In the downstream flow the two fields of perturbations (magnetic and kinetic) are characterized by von Kármán eddies. Our experiments were focused on the evolution of these eddies and show in particular that the critical Reynolds number increases strongly with the intensity of the magnetic field.

We report direct measurements of slip flow during and after plane-Couette shearing of poly(styrene) solutions between glass surfaces. Slip is studied by visualizing the microscopic motions of micron-sized silica spheres suspended in the solutions. Slip velocities as large as 4 μm s−1 are observed during shear, and recoil displacements of as much as 80 μm are observed at the glass surfaces after the driving surface stops moving. Significant slip is observed when the Weissenberg number $\lambda\dot{\gamma}$ exceeds 0.5 or so, where λ is the relaxation time and $\dot{\gamma}$ the shear rate. The magnitude of the slip correlates strongly with the fluid's birefringence, indicating that slip is induced by polymer stress or orientation. Away from the centre of the sample, toward the free edges, a secondary flow is observed, which appears to be driven by a normal-stress imbalance at these edges.

A compressible countercurrent shear layer was investigated experimentally by establishing reverse flow around the perimeter of a supersonic jet. Measurements demonstrate that spatial growth rates of the countercurrent shear layer significantly exceed those of the classical coflowing layer at comparable density ratios and levels of compressibility. Experiments also reveal the presence of coherent three-dimensional structures in the countercurrent shear layer at convective Mach numbers where similar structures are not present in coflowing layers. It is argued that these kinematic differences are responsible for the enhanced diffusion of the shear layer with counterflow. The spatio-temporal theory is used to examine the connection between the experimental observations and the existence of a transition from convective to absolute instability in high-speed shear layers.

Dimensional analysis is applied to the velocity profile U(y) of turbulent boundary layers subjected to adverse pressure gradients. It is assumed that the boundary layer is in moving or local equilibrium in the sense that the free-stream velocity U∞ and kinematic pressure gradient α = ρ−1dP/dx vary only slowly with the co-ordinate x. This assumption implies a rather complicated general equation for the velocity gradient dU/dy which may be considerably simplified for several specific regions of the flow. A general family of velocity profiles is derived from the simplified equations supplemented by some experimental information. This family agrees well with almost all existing data on velocity profiles in adverse-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers. It may be used for the derivation of a skin-friction law which predicts satisfactorily the values of the wall shear stress at any non-negative value of the pressure gradient. The variation of the boundary-layer thickness with x is also predicted by dimensional considerations.

We report the multi-scale geometric analysis of Lagrangian structures in forced isotropic turbulence and also with a frozen turbulent field. A particle backward-tracking method, which is stable and topology preserving, was applied to obtain the Lagrangian scalar field φ governed by the pure advection equation in the Eulerian form ∂tφ + u · ∇φ = 0. The temporal evolution of Lagrangian structures was first obtained by extracting iso-surfaces of φ with resolution 10243 at different times, from t = 0 to t = Te, where Te is the eddy turnover time. The surface area growth rate of the Lagrangian structure was quantified and the formation of stretched and rolled-up structures was observed in straining regions and stretched vortex tubes, respectively. The multi-scale geometric analysis of Bermejo-Moreno & Pullin (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 603, 2008, p. 101) has been applied to the evolution of φ to extract structures at different length scales and to characterize their non-local geometry in a space of reduced geometrical parameters. In this multi-scale sense, we observe, for the evolving turbulent velocity field, an evolutionary breakdown of initially large-scale Lagrangian structures that first distort and then either themselves are broken down or stretched laterally into sheets. Moreover, after a finite time, this progression appears to be insensible to the form of the initially smooth Lagrangian field. In comparison with the statistical geometry of instantaneous passive scalar and enstrophy fields in turbulence obtained by Bermejo-Moreno & Pullin (2008) and Bermejo-Moreno et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 620, 2009, p. 121), Lagrangian structures tend to exhibit more prevalent sheet-like shapes at intermediate and small scales. For the frozen flow, the Lagrangian field appears to be attracted onto a stream-surface field and it develops less complex multi-scale geometry than found for the turbulent velocity field. In the latter case, there appears to be a tendency for the Lagrangian field to move towards a vortex-surface field of the evolving turbulent flow but this is mitigated by cumulative viscous effects.

Heat-transfer rates from a non-equilibrium hypersonic air flow to flat plates at zero and 12° incidence have been measured in a free piston shock tunnel at stagnation enthalpy levels up to 51 MJ kg−1. Nozzle flow conditions resulted in test section velocities up to 8·1 km 8−1 and in an experimental regime in which the free stream was chemically frozen and the flat-plate boundary layer was laminar. Estimates of the gas-phase and surface-reaction Damkohler numbers have been made and the heat-transfer results are discussed in this context. At the highest test-section densities non-equilibrium endothermic gas phase reactions involving oxygen atoms in the boundary layer are suggested as a possible mechanism for the observed low heattransfer rates.

Convection experiments were conducted in a porous slab 3 m in diameter and 30 cm thick, using two quite different media: a filling of rubberized curled coconut fibre and of clear polymethylmethacrylate beads. The second experiment involved the successful use of a visualization scheme for the flows at the upper boundary. Convection began in a hexagonal pattern with a slight tendency to form into rolls, but became very complex, irregular and three-dimensional at higher Rayleigh numbers, without developing any obvious temporal instabilities. Above a Rayleigh number of 1000 a significant number of dendritic downwellings appeared, where smaller downwellings seemed to feed into larger areas such that the whole complex may have converged into a single downwelling plume. The visualization provides direct confirmation that the lateral scale of the convection decreases with increasing Rayleigh number, approximately as ([Ascr ] + C)−0.5.

Nusselt number versus Rayleigh number curves were obtained for both experiments. The only feature they have in common is a central section where the slope on a log/log graph is slightly over 0.5. On the graph from the first experiment, this section is preceded by a slope close to 1 and followed by a slope close to 0.33. The temperature measured at a point in the fill 25 mm below the top boundary was unsteady at conditions representative of the upper two segments of the graph; sensitivity was insufficient to measure fluctuations at lower temperature differences. The Nusselt number for the bead fill jumps upward just above onset (where [Ascr ] = 4π2), rapidly settles to a slope of 0.52, and then gradually breaks upward again to a slope of greater than 1. Increases in conductivity and permeability close to the boundary are not a large enough fraction of the boundary-layer thickness to cause this. A new phenomenon, lateral thermal dispersion, appears to be responsible. It occurs because there is no constant separation distance between adjacent channels in a bead fill. Thermal exchange in the junction pores exceeds the average if the flow is fast enough, especially when the fluid is more conductive than the beads.

A simple boundary-conduction theory can be matched to the uncontaminated results. It is based on relative scaling of the residence time of fluid in the boundary layer, and predicts Nusselt number growth as the 0.55 power of Rayleigh number toward the high values typical of major geothermal areas.

Friction factor of drag-reducing flow with presence of polymers in a rough pipe has been investigated based on the eddy diffusivity model, which shows that the ratio of effective viscosity caused by polymers to kinematic viscosity of fluid should be proportional to the Reynolds number, i.e. u∗R/ν and the proportionality factor depends on polymer's type and concentration. A formula of flow resistance covering all regions from laminar, transitional and fully turbulent flows has been derived, and it is valid in hydraulically smooth, transitional and fully rough regimes. This new formula has been tested against Nikuradse and Virk's experimental data in both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid flows. The agreement between the measured and predicted friction factors is satisfactory, indicating that the addition of polymer into Newtonian fluid flow leads to the non-zero effective viscosity and it also thickens the viscous sublayer, subsequently the drag is reduced. The investigation shows that the effect of polymer also changes the velocity at the top of roughness elements. Both experimental data and theoretical predictions indicate that, if same polymer solution is used, the drag reduction (DR) in roughened pipes becomes smaller relative to smooth pipe flows at the same Reynolds number.

The zones of influence and dependence for three-dimensional boundary-layer equations first studied by Raetz are re-examined from the viewpoint of the subcharacteristics. It is shown that in contrast, the zones of influence and dependence for a totally hyperbolic system are determined by the characteristics; for the present parabolic system of three-dimensional boundary-layer equations, the zones are determined by the characteristics and subcharacteristics. The same idea should be applicable to more general systems of equations of similar type.

A steady theory is presented for gravity currents propagating with constant speed into a stratified fluid with a general density profile. Solution curves for front speed versus height have an energy-conserving upper bound (the conjugate state) and a lower bound marked by the onset of upstream influence. The conjugate state is the largest-amplitude nonlinear internal wave supported by the ambient stratification, and in the limit of weak stratification approaches Benjamin's energy-conserving gravity current solution. When the front speed becomes critical with respect to linear long waves generated above the current, steady solutions cannot be calculated, implying upstream influence. For non-uniform stratification, the critical long-wave speed exceeds the ambient long-wave speed, and the critical-Froude-number condition appropriate for uniform stratification must be generalized. The theoretical results demonstrate a clear connection between internal waves and gravity currents. The steady theory is also compared with non-hydrostatic numerical solutions of the full lock release initial-value problem. Some solutions resemble classic gravity currents with no upstream disturbance, but others show long internal waves propagating ahead of the gravity current. Wave generation generally occurs when the stratification and current speed are such that the steady gravity current theory fails. Thus the steady theory is consistent with the occurrence of either wave-generating or steady gravity solutions to the dam-break problem. When the available potential energy of the dam is large enough, the numerical simulations approach the energy-conserving conjugate state. Existing laboratory experiments for intrusions and gravity currents produced by full-depth lock exchange flows over a range of stratification profiles show excellent agreement with the conjugate state solutions.

The shape of a two-dimensional viscous drop deforming in several time-dependent flow fields, including that due to a potential vortex, has been studied. Vortex flow was approximated by linearizing the induced velocity field at the drop centre, giving rise to an extensional flow with rotating axes of stretching. A generalization of the potential vortex, a flow we have called rotating extensional flow, occurs when the frequency of revolution of the flow is varied independently of the shear rate. Drops subjected to this forcing flow exhibit an interesting resonance phenomenon. Finally we have studied drop deformation in an oscillatory extensional flow.

Calculations were performed at small but non-zero Reynolds numbers using an ADI front-tracking/finite difference method. We investigate the effects of interfacial tension, periodicity, viscosity ratio, and Reynolds number on the drop dynamics. The simulation reveals interesting behaviour for steady stretching flows, as well as time-dependent flows. For a steady extensional flow, the drop deformation is found to be non-monotonic with time in its approach to an equilibrium value. At sufficiently high Reynolds numbers, the drop experiences multiple growth–collapse cycles, with possible axes reversal, before reaching a final shape. For a vortex flow, the long-time deformation reaches a steady value, and the drop attains a revolving steady elliptic shape. For rotating extensional flows as well as oscillatory extensional flows, the maximum value of deformation displays resonance with variation in parameters, first increasing and then decreasing with increasing interfacial tension or forcing frequency. A simple ODE model with proper forcing is offered to explain the observed phenomena.

From the solution of the creeping-flow equations, the drag force on a sphere becomes infinite when the gap between the sphere and a smooth wall vanishes at constant velocity, so that if the sphere is displaced towards the wall with a constant applied force, contact theoretically may not occur. Physically, the drag is finite for various reasons, one being the particle and wall roughness. Then, for vanishing gap, even though some layers of fluid molecules may be left between the particle and wall roughness peaks, conventionally it may be said that contact occurs. In this paper, we consider the example of a smooth sphere moving towards a rough wall. The roughness considered here consists of parallel periodic wedges, the wavelength of which is small compared with the sphere radius. This problem is considered both experimentally and theoretically. The motion of a millimetre size bead settling towards a corrugated horizontal wall in a viscous oil is measured with laser interferometry giving an accuracy on the displacement of 0.1 $\mu$m. Several wedge-shaped walls were used, with various wavelengths and wedge angles.

From the results, it is observed that the velocity of the sphere is, except for small gaps, similar to that towards a smooth plane that is shifted down from the top of corrugations. Indeed, earlier theories for a shear flow along a corrugated wall found such an equivalent smooth plane. These theories are revisited here. The creeping flow is calculated as a series in the slope of the roughness grooves. The cases of a flow along and across the grooves are considered separately. The shift is larger in the former case. Slightly flattened tops of the wedges used in experiments are also considered in the calculations. It is then demonstrated that the effective shift for the sphere motion is the average of the shifts for shear flows in the two perpendicular directions. A good agreement is found between theory and experiment.

Lighthill’s acoustic analogy is formulated for turbulent channel flow with pressure as the acoustic variable, and integrated over the channel width to produce a two-dimensional inhomogeneous wave equation. The equivalent sources consist of a dipole distribution related to the sum of the viscous shear stresses on the two walls, together with monopole and quadrupole distributions related to the unsteady turbulent dissipation and Reynolds stresses respectively. Using a rigid-boundary Green function, an expression is found for the power spectrum of the far-field pressure radiated per unit channel area. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent plane Poiseuille and Couette flow have been performed in large computational domains in order to obtain good resolution of the low-wavenumber source behaviour. Analysis of the DNS databases for all sound radiation sources shows that their wavenumber–frequency spectra have non-zero limits at low wavenumber. The sound power per unit channel area radiated by the dipole distribution is proportional to Mach number squared, while the monopole and quadrupole contributions are proportional to the fourth power of Mach number. Below a particular Mach number determined by the frequency and radiation direction, the dipole radiation due to the wall shear stress dominates the far field. The quadrupole takes over at Mach numbers above about 0.1, while the monopole is always the smallest term. The resultant acoustic field at any point in the channel consists of a statistically diffuse assembly of plane waves, with spectrum limited by damping to a value that is independent of Mach number in the low-M limit.

By truncating the range of van der Waals forces in our molecular dynamics model we reduce the lengthscale and timescale gap between the outer (wedge) and inner (precursor) regions in droplet spreading simulations. This results in a molecular model which combines atomic-scale resolution with the ability to capture large-scale behaviour as manifested by the Tanner spreading law. Our results show that Tanner's law can be recovered, even if van der Waals effects and the resulting precursor film are limited to distances of the order of three atomic diameters from the substrate. In other words, removal of the singularity is not necessary up to a few atomic diameters from the contact line. The very good quantitative agreement with theory and experiments suggests that the original precursor theory of de Gennes can be generalized to precursors of molecular thickness in which flow is not characterized by the continuum (Stokes) model. Gravity current simulations are also in excellent agreement with the theory of Huppert and recent experimental results showing lubrication scalings at small capillary numbers.

A three-dimensional boundary-layer model of shallow-water flows assuming hydrostatic pressure with negligible numerical diffusion and wave damping has been extended to turbulent flow. A standard two-layer mixing-length model determines vertical length scales. The horizontal mixing length is made a multiple $\beta$ of the vertical value and $\beta$ is determined from comparison with experiment. Eddy viscosity is of a general three-dimensional form where, for example, the horizontal mixing length and associated strain rates determine the magnitude of eddy viscosity and hence vertical mixing (and vice versa). Direct comparison is made with previous experiments for subcritical flow around a conical island of small side slope which exhibits the transition from a vigorous vortex-shedding wake to a steady recirculating wake as the stability parameter, $St$, is increased. The value of $\beta$ influences wake structure, particularly for stability parameters close to the critical (the value at which the wake becomes steady or stable). The critical value in the experiments was 0.4 and this was reproduced in the model with $\beta \,{=}\,6$. Vortex shedding patterns with $\hbox{\it St} \,{=}\, 0.26$ and 0.36 were qualitatively reproduced. The flows were subcritical with an onset Froude number of about 0.2, with values approaching 0.6–0.7 in areas where depth-averaged vorticity magnitude was also greatest, at a small distance from the wet/dry intersection. At this intersection, depth-averaged vorticity approached zero while potential vorticity (depth-averaged vorticity/depth) was at a maximum, indicating the importance of the intersection as an origin for vorticity.

Using a numerical model, we analyse the effects of shape on both the orientation and transport of anisotropic particles in wavy flows. The particles are idealized as prolate and oblate spheroids, and we consider the regime of small Stokes and particle Reynolds numbers. We find that the particles preferentially align into the shear plane with a mean orientation that is solely a function of their aspect ratio. This alignment, however, differs from the Jeffery orbits that occur in the residual shear flow (that is, the Stokes drift velocity field) in the absence of waves. Since the drag on an anisotropic particle depends on its alignment with the flow, this preferred orientation determines the effective drag on the particles, which in turn impacts their net downstream transport. We also find that the rate of alignment of the particles is not constant and depends strongly on their initial orientation; thus, variations in initial particle orientation result in dispersion of anisotropic-particle plumes. We show that this dispersion is a function of the particle’s eccentricity and the ratio of the settling and wave time scales. Due to this preferential alignment, we find that a plume of anisotropic particles in waves is on average transported farther but dispersed less than it would be if the particles were randomly oriented. Our results demonstrate that accurate prediction of the transport of anisotropic particles in wavy environments, such as microplastic particles in the ocean, requires the consideration of these preferential alignment effects.