A simple mathematical model is proposed to describe the steady melting of a body of ice which presents a plane surface transverse to a stream of hot air; the temperature of the air is such that vaporization does not occur.

The analysis takes into account the convection of heat away from the surface by the water released in melting and the results show that the rate of transfer of heat to the body and thus the rate of melting, is reduced by as much as 46% by this convection.

Simple approximate expressions are obtained for the rate of melting, the thickness of the water layer, and the thickness of the thermal boundary layer in the ice, in terms of a basic parameter S which can be calculated in terms of known quantities. These results are compared with those obtained by a separate Pohlhausen calculation and are found to be in good agreement.

It is also shown that there exists a thermal boundary layer, in the body, of thickness much greater than that of the boundary layer in the air, in which the temperature changes rapidly from its value at the melting surface to its value in the far interior.

Scaling laws for the propulsive performance of rigid foils undergoing oscillatory heaving and pitching motions are presented. Water tunnel experiments on a nominally two-dimensional flow validate the scaling laws, with the scaled data for thrust, power and efficiency all showing excellent collapse. The analysis indicates that the behaviour of the foils depends on both Strouhal number and reduced frequency, but for motions where the viscous drag is small the thrust closely follows a linear dependence on reduced frequency. The scaling laws are also shown to be consistent with biological data on swimming aquatic animals.

In this paper, we study the effect of the Reynolds number (Re) on the dynamics and vortex formation modes of spheres rising or falling freely through a fluid (where Re = 100–15000). Since the oscillation of freely falling spheres was first reported by Newton (University of California Press, 3rd edn, 1726, translated in 1999), the fundamental question of whether a sphere will vibrate, as it rises or falls, has been the subject of a number of investigations, and it is clear that the mass ratio m* (defined as the relative density of the sphere compared to the fluid) is an important parameter to define when vibration occurs. Although all rising spheres (m* < 1) were previously found to oscillate, either chaotically or in a periodic zigzag motion or even to follow helical trajectories, there is no consensus regarding precise values of the mass ratio (m*crit) separating vibrating and rectilinear regimes. There is also a large scatter in measurements of sphere drag in both the vibrating and rectilinear regimes.

In our experiments, we employ spheres with 133 combinations of m* and Re, to provide a comprehensive study of the sphere dynamics and vortex wakes occurring over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. We find that falling spheres (m* > 1) always move without vibration. However, in contrast with previous studies, we discover that a whole regime of buoyant spheres rise through a fluid without vibration. It is only when one passes below a critical value of the mass ratio, that the sphere suddenly begins to vibrate periodically and vigorously in a zigzag trajectory within a vertical plane. The critical mass is nearly constant over two ranges of Reynolds number (m*crit ≈ 0.4 for Re = 260–1550 and m*crit ≈ 0.6 for Re > 1550). We do not observe helical or spiral trajectories, or indeed chaotic types of trajectory, unless the experiments are conducted in disturbed background fluid. The wakes for spheres moving rectilinearly are comparable with wakes of non-vibrating spheres. We find that these wakes comprise single-sided and double-sided periodic sequences of vortex rings, which we define as the ‘R’ and ‘2R’ modes. However, in the zigzag regime, we discover a new ‘4R’ mode, in which four vortex rings are created per cycle of oscillation. We find a number of changes to occur at a Reynolds number of 1550, and we suggest the possibility of a resonance between the shear layer instability and the vortex shedding (loop) instability. From this study, ensuring minimal background disturbances, we have been able to present a new regime map of dynamics and vortex wake modes as a function of the mass ratio and Reynolds number {m*, Re}, as well as a reasonable collapse of the drag measurements, as a function of Re, onto principally two curves, one for the vibrating regime and one for the rectilinear trajectories.

In this article, we considered experimentally the deformation and breakup of Newtonian and non-Newtonian conducting drops in surrounding fluid subjected to a uniform electric field. First, we examined three distinctive cases of Newtonian-fluid pairs with different relative conductivities, namely highly conducting drops, conducting drops and slightly conducting drops. The results on the Newtonian fluids demonstrated that when the conductivity of the drop is very large relative to that of the surrounding fluid, the deformation response of such highly conducting drops is described well by the electrohydrostatic theory, especially with regard to the prediction of the critical point. Specifically, when the ratio of drop to continuous-phase resistivity, R, was less than 10−5, the electrohydrostatic theory was quite satisfactory. Then, the non-Newtonian effect on the drop deformation and breakup was studied for highly conducting drops which satisfied the condition R < O(10−5). The highly conducting drop became stable in a weak or moderate field strength when either the drop or the continuous phase was non-Newtonian. On the other hand, when both the phases were non-Newtonian, more complicated responses were observed depending on the ratio of zero-shear-rate viscosities. Although the effects of the rheological properties are minimal on all features away from the critical conditions for breakup or prior to the instability, the non-Newtonian properties have a significant influence during drop burst, which is accompanied by large velocities and velocity gradients. In particular, when the ratio of the zero-shear-rate viscosity of the drop to that of the ambient fluid was much larger than unity, non-Newtonian properties of the drop phase enhanced the drop stability. Conversely, the elasticity of the continuous phase deteriorated the drop stability. Meanwhile if the zero-shear-rate viscosity ratio was much smaller than unity, the elasticity of the continuous phase produced a stabilizing effect. The effects of resistivity and viscosity ratios on the breakup modes were also investigated. When at least one of the two contiguous phases possessed considerable non-Newtonian properties, tip streaming appeared.

The instability of the three-dimensional high-shear layer associated with a near-wall low-speed streak is investigated experimentally. A single low-speed streak, not unlike the near-wall low-speed streaks in transitional and turbulent flows, is produced in a laminar boundary layer by using a small piece of screen set normal to the wall. In order to excite symmetric and anti-symmetric modes separately, well-controlled external disturbances are introduced into the laminar low-speed streak through small holes drilled behind the screen. The growth of the excited symmetric varicose mode is essentially governed by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability of the in ectional velocity profiles across the streak in the normal-to-wall direction and it can occur when the streak width is larger than the shear-layer thickness. The spatial growth rate of the symmetric mode is very sensitive to the streak width and is rapidly reduced as the velocity defect decreases flowing to the momentum transfer by viscous stresses. By contrast, the anti-symmetric sinuous mode that causes the streak meandering is dominated by the wake-type instability of spanwise velocity distributions across the streak. As far as the linear instability is concerned, the growth rate of the anti-symmetric mode is not so strongly affected by the decrease in the streak width, and its exponential growth may continue further downstream than that of the symmetric mode. As for the mode competition, it is important to note that when the streak width is narrow and comparable with the shear-layer thickness, the low-speed streak becomes more unstable to the anti-symmetric modes than to the symmetric modes. It is clearly demonstrated that the growth of the symmetric mode leads to the formation of hairpin vortices with a pair of counter-rotating streamwise vortices, while the anti-symmetric mode evolves into a train of quasi-streamwise vortices with vorticity of alternate sign.

We investigate a hierarchy of eddy-viscosity terms in proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) Galerkin models to account for a large fraction of unresolved fluctuation energy. These Galerkin methods are applied to large eddy simulation (LES) data for a flow around a vehicle-like bluff body called an Ahmed body. This flow has three challenges for any reduced-order model: a high Reynolds number, coherent structures with broadband frequency dynamics, and meta-stable asymmetric base flow states. The Galerkin models are found to be most accurate with modal eddy viscosities as proposed by Rempfer & Fasel (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 260, 1994a, pp. 351–375; J. Fluid Mech. vol. 275, 1994b, pp. 257–283). Robustness of the model solution with respect to initial conditions, eddy-viscosity values and model order is achieved only for state-dependent eddy viscosities as proposed by Noack, Morzyński & Tadmor (Reduced-Order Modelling for Flow Control, CISM Courses and Lectures, vol. 528, 2011). Only the POD system with state-dependent modal eddy viscosities can address all challenges of the flow characteristics. All parameters are analytically derived from the Navier–Stokes-based balance equations with the available data. We arrive at simple general guidelines for robust and accurate POD models which can be expected to hold for a large class of turbulent flows.

In this paper it is shown that the two-dimensional time-periodic vortex shedding régime observed in the cylinder wake at moderate Reynolds numbers may be interpreted as a nonlinear global structure and its naturally selected frequency obtained in the framework of hydrodynamic stability theory. The frequency selection criterion is based on the local absolute frequency curve derived from the unperturbed basic flow fields under the assumption of slow streamwise variations. Although the latter assumption is only approximately fulfilled in the vicinity of the obstacle, the theoretically predicted frequency is in good agreement with direct numerical simulations for Reynolds numbers Re > 100.

The constant Cμ and the near-wall damping function fμ in the eddy-viscosity relation of the k–ε model are evaluated from direct numerical simulation (DNS) data for developed channel and boundary-layer flow, each at two Reynolds numbers. Various existing fμ model functions are compared with the DNS data, and a new function is fitted to the high-Reynolds-number channel flow data. The ε-budget is computed for the fully developed channel flow. The relative magnitude of the terms in the ε-equation is analysed with the aid of scaling arguments, and the parameter governing this magnitude is established. Models for the sum of all source and sink terms in the ε-equation are tested against the DNS data, and an improved model is proposed.

A proper orthogonal decomposition based model is considered for two-dimensional vortex shedding past a confined square cylinder. The aim is to study the validity of such a model for Reynolds numbers and blockage ratios that are different from those for which the model was derived. Using a calibration procedure it is shown that reliable results can be obtained in terms of short-term (one period) dynamics. Long-term dynamics are accurately captured with a variation of the Reynolds number, whereas the error becomes large when the blockage ratio changes. The controllability and observability of vortex shedding at a slightly supercritical Reynolds number is investigated relying on the accurate low-order models obtained.

Wide-field particle image velocimetry measurements were performed in a Mach 2 turbulent boundary layer to study the characteristics of large-scale coherence at two wall-normal locations ($y/\delta\,{=}\,0.16$ and 0.45). Instantaneous velocity fields at both locations indicate the presence of elongated streamwise strips of uniform low- and high-speed fluid (length$\,{>}\,8\delta$). These long coherent structures exhibit strong similarities to those that have been found in incompressible boundary layers, which suggests an underlying similarity between the incompressible and supersonic regimes. Two-point correlations of streamwise velocity fluctuations show coherence over a longer streamwise distance at $y/\delta\,{=}\,0.45$ than at $y/\delta\,{=}\,0.16$, which indicates an increasing trend in the streamwise length scale with wall-normal location. The spanwise scale of these uniform-velocity strips increases with increasing wall-normal distance as found in subsonic boundary layers. The large-scale coherence observed is consistent with the very large-scale motion (VLSM) model proposed by Kim & Adrian (Phys. Fluids, vol. 11, 1999, p. 417) for incompressible boundary layers.

The effectiveness with which various sources excite convective instabilities in a boundary layer is found by a simple method. Chosen field values of the adjoint to the Tollmien–Schlichting eigensolution, normalized appropriately, indicate the amplitude of the unstable disturbance which will result for direct time-harmonic forcing by sources of momentum, mass and vorticity, as well as by boundary motions. For the Blasius boundary layer, forcing in the vicinity of the critical layer induces the largest response. At this position, the response to forcing in the wall-normal direction is typically 5% of that resulting from streamwise forcing of the same magnitude. At the wall, normal motions elicit a much stronger response than streamwise motions. Forcing close to the lower branch of the neutral stability curve leads to the largest response. The adjoint field values are equivalent to the residues of Fourier-inversion integrals. This equivalence is discussed for two problems; the vibrating ribbon problem and excitation of an inviscid free shear layer by a vorticity source. The efficiency factor is calculated for the scattering of ‘acoustic’ waves into Tollmien–Schlichting waves in the presence of small surface roughness, at a finite Reynolds number, based on the Orr–Sommerfeld operator. This is achieved by using the solution of an inhomogeneous adjoint problem. The results are compared with the asymptotic solutions obtained from triple-deck theory, and agree with previous finite-Reynolds-number calculations.

Direct numerical simulations of sink-flow boundary layers, with acceleration parameters K between 1.5 × 10−6 and 3.0 × 10−6, are presented. The three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier–Stokes equations are solved numerically using a spectral method, with about 106 degrees of freedom. The flow is assumed to be statistically steady, and self-similar. A multiple-scale approximation and periodic conditions are applied to the fluctuations. The turbulence is studied using instantaneous and statistical results. Good agreement with the experiments of Jones & Launder is observed. Two effects of the favourable pressure gradient are to extend the logarithmic layer, and to alter the energy balance of the turbulence near the edge of the boundary layer. At low Reynolds number the logarithmic layer is shortened and slightly displaced, but wall-layer streaks are present even at the lowest values of Rθ for which turbulence can be sustained. Large quiescent patches appear in the flow. Relaminarization occurs at K = 3.0 × 10−6, corresponding to a Reynolds number Rθ ≈ 330.

This work can be viewed as a reprise of Head & Bandyopadhyay's (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 107, p. 297) original boundary-layer visualization study although in this instance we make use of stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV), techniques to obtain a quantitative view of the turbulent structure. By arranging the laser light-sheet and image plane of a stereo PIV system in inclined spanwise/wall-normal planes (inclined at both $45^{\circ}$ and $135^{\circ}$ to the streamwise axis) a unique quantitative view of the turbulent boundary layer is obtained. Experiments are repeated across a range of Reynolds numbers, $Re_{\tau} \,{\approx}\, 690\hbox{--}2800$. Despite numerous experimental challenges (due to the large out-of-plane velocity components), mean flow and Reynolds stress profiles indicate that the salient features of the turbulent flow have been well resolved. The data are analysed with specific attention to a proposed hairpin eddy model. In-plane two-dimensional swirl is used to identify vortical eddy structures piercing the inclined planes. The vast majority of this activity occurs in the $135^{\circ}$ plane, indicating an inclined eddy structure, and Biot-Savart law calculations are carried out to aid in the discussion. Conditional averaging and linear stochastic estimation results also support the presence of inclined eddies, arranged about low-speed regions. In the $135^{\circ}$ plane, instantaneous swirl patterns exhibit a predisposition for counter-rotating vortex pairs (arranged with an ejection at their confluence). Such arrangements are consistent with the hairpin packet model. Correlation and scaling results show outer-scaling to be the correct way to quantify the characteristic spanwise length scale across the log and wake regions of the boundary layers (for the range of Reynolds numbers tested). A closer investigation of two-point velocity correlation contours indicates the occurrence of a distinct two-regime behaviour, in which contours (and hence streamwise velocity fluctuations) either appear to be ‘attached’ to the buffer region, or ‘detaching’ from it. The demarcation between these two regimes is found to scale well with outer variables. The results are consistent with a coherent structure that becomes increasingly uncoupled (or decorrelated) from the wall as it grows beyond the logarithmic region, providing additional support for a wall–awake description of turbulent boundary layers.

Numerical calculations are presented for the steady three-dimensional structure of thermal convection of a fluid with strongly temperature-dependent viscosity in a bottom-heated rectangular box. Viscosity is assumed to depend on temperature T as exp (− ET), where E is a constant; viscosity variations across the box r (= exp (E)) as large as 105 are considered. A stagnant layer or lid of highly viscous fluid develops in the uppermost coldest part of the top cold thermal boundary layer when r > rc1, where r = rc1 ≡ 1.18 × 103Rt0.309 and Rt is the Rayleigh number based on the viscosity at the top boundary. Three-dimensional convection occurs in a rectangular pattern beneath this stagnant lid. The planform consists of hot upwelling plumes at or near the centre of a rectangle, sheets of cold sinking fluid on the four sides, and cold sinking plume concentrations immersed in the sheets. A stagnant lid does not develop, i.e. convection involves all of the fluid in the box when r < rc1. The whole-layer mode of convection occurs in a three-dimensional bimodal pattern when r > rc2 = 3.84 × 106Rt−1.35. The planform of the convection is rectangular with the coldest parts of the sinking fluid and the hottest part of the upwelling fluid occurring as plumes at the four corners and at the centre of the rectangle, respectively. Both hot uprising plumes and cold sinking plumes have sheet-like extensions, which become more well-developed as r increases. The whole-layer mode of convection occurs as two-dimensional rolls when r < min (rc1, rc2). The Nusselt number Nu depends on the viscosity at the top surface more strongly in the regime of whole-layer convection than in the regime of stagnant-lid convection. In the whole-layer convective regime, Nu depends more strongly on the viscosity at the top surface than on the viscosity at the bottom boundary.

Care is needed with algorithms for computer simulations of the Brownian motion of complex systems, such as colloidal and macromolecular systems which have internal degrees of freedom describing changes in configuration. Problems can arise when the diffusivity or the inertia changes with the configuration of the system. There are some problems in replacing very stiff bonds by rigid constraints. These problems and their resolution are illustrated by some artificial models; firstly in one dimension, then in the neighbourhood of an ellipse in two dimensions and finally for the trimer polymer molecule.

The flow about a body placed inside a channel differs from its unbounded counterpart because of the effects of wall confinement, shear in the incoming velocity profile, and separation of vorticity from the channel walls. The case of a circular cylinder placed between two parallel walls is here studied numerically with a finite element method based on the vorticity–streamfunction formulation for values of the Reynolds number consistent with a two-dimensional assumption.

The transition from steady flow to a periodic vortex shedding regime has been analysed: transition is delayed as the body approaches one wall because the interaction between the cylinder wake and the wall boundary layer vorticity constrains the separating shear layer, reducing its oscillations. The results confirm previous observations of the inhibition of vortex shedding for a body placed near one wall. The unsteady vortex shedding regime changes, from a pattern similar to the von Kármán street (with some differences) when the body is in about the centre of the channel, to a single row of same-sign vortices as the body approaches one wall. The separated vortex dynamics leading to this topological modification is presented.

The mean drag coefficients, once they have been normalized properly, are comparable when the cylinder is placed at different distances from one wall, down to gaps less than one cylinder diameter. At smaller gaps the body behaves similarly to a surface-mounted obstacle. The lift force is given by a repulsive component plus an attractive one. The former, well known from literature, is given by the deviation of the wake behind the body. Evidence of the latter, which is a consequence of the shear in front of the body, is given.

A shear-improved Smagorinsky model is introduced based on results concerning mean-shear effects in wall-bounded turbulence. The Smagorinsky eddy-viscosity is modified as vT =(Csδ)2(|S|—|〈S〉|): the magnitude of the mean shear |〈S〉|is subtracted from the magnitude of the instantaneous resolved rate-of-strain tensor |S|; CS is the standard Smagorinsky constant and Δ denotes the grid spacing. This subgrid-scale model is tested in large-eddy simulations of plane-channel flows at Reynolds numbers Reτ = 395 and Reτ = 590. First comparisons with the dynamic Smagorinsky model and direct numerical simulations for mean velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds stress profiles, are shown to be extremely satisfactory. The proposed model, in addition to being physically sound and consistent with the scale-by-scale energy budget of locally homogeneous shear turbulence, has a low computational cost and possesses a high potential for generalization to complex non-homogeneous turbulent flows.

We present numerical simulations of stably stratified, vortically forced turbulence at a wide range of Froude numbers. Large-scale vortical forcing was chosen to represent geophysical vortices which break down at small scales where Coriolis effects are weak. The resulting vortical energy spectra are much steeper in the horizontal direction and shallower in the vertical than typical observations in the atmosphere and ocean, as noted in previous studies. We interpret these spectra in terms of the vertical decoupling which emerges in the strongly stratified limit. We show that this decoupling breaks down at a vertical scale of $U/N$, where $N$ is the Brunt–Väisälä frequency and $U$ is a characteristic horizontal velocity, confirming previous scaling arguments. The transfer of vortical energy to wave energy is most efficient at this vertical scale; vertical spectra of wave energy are correspondingly peaked at small scales, as observed in past work. The equilibrium statistical mechanics of the inviscid unforced truncated problem qualitatively predicts the nature of the forced–dissipative solutions, and confirms the lack of an inverse cascade of vortical energy.

A previously unreported shock feature associated with the scouring of a horizontal granular bed by a dam-break wave is discussed. Near the wave centre, the present study shows, the free surface breaks backward and a hydraulic jump forms. This behaviour is described from the standpoint of shallow-water theory, suitably extended to deal with non-equilibrium sediment transport. The shock formation involves a particularly strong coupling between flow free-surface evolution and bed morphodynamics. Support for our conclusions is sought through experimental and numerical approaches. In order to magnify the observed phenomena, measurements were performed for the case of light bed particles moving in sheet and debris flow modes. A detailed picture of the transient two-phase flow is presented, based on whole field acquisition of the grain motions by particle tracking techniques. Corresponding shallow-water solutions are constructed numerically using a shock capturing scheme. Finally, an interpretation of the jump formation is proposed based on the theory of characteristics.

In this article we present numerical solutions to multicellular natural convection in a vertical enclosure. The calculated streamlines faithfully represent what has been seen in the laboratory by smoke traces in air and particle traces in oils. The calculated isotherms for air correspond to reported interferometric patterns. Solutions exhibiting travelling waves for water were calculated near conditions where they should occur according to linear stability theory. Heat-transfer results for air are given and their dependence on the aspect ratio of the enclosure exhibited.