We study the thermocapillary migration of two-dimensional droplets of partially wetting liquids on a non-uniformly heated surface. The effect of a non-zero contact angle is imposed through a disjoining–conjoining pressure term. The numerical results for two different molecular interactions are compared: on the one hand, London–van der Waals and ionic–electrostatics molecular interactions that account for polar liquids; on the other hand, long- and short-range molecular forces that model molecular interactions of non-polar fluids. In addition, the effect of gravity on the velocity of the drop is analysed. We find that for small contact angles, the long-time dynamics is independent of the molecular potential, and the footprint of the droplet increases with the square root of time. For intermediate contact angles we observe that polar droplets are more likely to break up into smaller volumes than non-polar ones. A linear stability analysis allows us to predict the number of droplets after breakup occurs. In this regime, the effect of gravity is stabilizing: it reduces the growth rates of the unstable modes and increases the shortest unstable wavelength. When breakup is not observed, the droplet moves steadily with a profile that consists in a capillary ridge followed by a film of constant thickness, for which we find power law dependencies with the cross-sectional area of the droplet, the contact angle and the temperature gradients. For large contact angles, non-polar liquids move faster than polar ones, and the velocity is proportional to the Marangoni stress. We find power law dependencies for the velocity for the different regimes of flow. The numerical results allow us to shed light on experimental facts such as the origin of the elongation of droplets and the existence of saturation velocity.

A family of cases each containing a small separation bubble is treated by direct numerical simulation (DNS), varying two parameters: the severity of the pressure gradients, generated by suction and blowing across the opposite boundary, and the Reynolds number. Each flow contains a well-developed entry region with essentially zero pressure gradient, and all are adjusted to have the same value for the momentum thickness, extrapolated from the entry region to the centre of the separation bubble. Combined with fully defined boundary conditions this will make comparisons with other simulations and turbulence models rigorous; we present results for a set of eight Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes turbulence models. Even though the largest Reynolds number is approximately 5.5 times higher than in a similar DNS study we presented in 1997, the models have difficulties matching the DNS skin friction very closely even in the zero pressure gradient, which complicates their assessment. In the rest of the domain, the separation location per se is not particularly difficult to predict, and the most definite disagreement between DNS and models is near reattachment. Curiously, the better models tend to cluster together in their predictions of pressure and skin friction even when they deviate from the DNS, although their eddy-viscosity levels are widely different in the outer region near the bubble (or they do not rely on an eddy viscosity). Stratford’s square-root law is satisfied by the velocity profiles, both at separation and reattachment. The Reynolds-number range covers a factor of two, with the Reynolds number based on the extrapolated momentum thickness equal to approximately 1500 and 3000. This allows tentative estimates of the improvements that even higher values will bring to the model comparisons. The solutions are used to assess models through pressure, skin friction and other measures; the flow fields are also used to produce effective eddy-viscosity targets for the models, thus guiding turbulence-modelling work in each region of the flow.

We investigate the dynamic interfacial deformation induced by micrometric particles exerting a periodic force on a planar interface or on a bubble, and the resulting lateral capillary interactions. Assuming that the deformation of the interface is small, neglecting the effect of viscosity and assuming point particles, we derive analytical formulas for the dynamic deformation of the interface. For the case of a planar interface the dynamic point force simply generates capillary waves, while for the case of a bubble it excites shape oscillations, with a dominant deformation mode that depends on the bubble radius for a given forcing frequency. We evaluate the lateral capillary force acting between two particles, by superimposing the deformations induced by two point forces. We find that the lateral capillary forces experienced by dynamically forced particles are non-monotonic and can be repulsive. The results are applicable to micrometric particles driven by different dynamic forcing mechanisms such as magnetic, electric or acoustic fields.

The effect of imposed rotation on a slender elastically mounted circular cylinder free to oscillate transversely to the incident flow has been studied experimentally in a free-surface water channel. Rotation rate and direction are imposed to be proportional to either the cylinder’s transverse displacement or the cylinder’s transverse velocity to determine the effectiveness of these rotation laws to control the dynamics of the cylinder, either to reduce or to enhance oscillations. The former can be of interest for energy harvesting purposes whereas the latter can be useful to avoid unwanted oscillations. In all cases, non-dimensional mass and damping are fixed ($m^{\ast }=11.7$, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D701}=0.0043$) so the analysis is focused on the role of the rotation law and the reduced velocity. The Reynolds number based on the diameter of the cylinder ranges from 1500 to 10 000. Results are presented in terms of steady-state oscillation characterization (say, amplitude and frequency) and wake-pattern topology, which was obtained through digital particle image velocimetry. Both laws are able to either reduce or enhance oscillations, but they do it in a different way. A rotation law proportional to the cylinder’s displacement is more effective to enhance oscillations. For high enough actuation, a galloping-type response has been found, with a persistent growth of the amplitude of oscillations with the reduced velocity that shows a new desynchronized mode of vortex shedding. On the other hand, a rotation law proportional to the cylinder’s transverse velocity is more efficient to reduce oscillations. In this case only vortex-induced-type responses have been found. A quasi-steady theoretical model has been developed, which helps to explain why a galloping-type response may appear when rotation is proportional to cylinder displacement and is able to predict reasonably the amplitude of oscillations in those cases. The model also explains why a galloping-type response is not expected to occur when rotation is proportional to the cylinder’s velocity.

We present the results of an experimental investigation of the motion of a light, solid sphere in a horizontal rotating cylinder filled with viscous fluid. At high rotation rates, the sphere sits near the axis of the cylinder. At lower rotation rates, a set of off-axis fixed points are observed for a range of sphere radii. The locations of these fixed points are in quantitative agreement with the predictions of a model based on available theory. The fixed points are observed to become unstable to periodic orbits below a critical Reynolds number $Re_{c}$. The radius of the observed orbits increases with Reynolds number more slowly than a typical Hopf bifurcation, in this case, growing as $1/Re^{2}$.

We study buoyancy-driven exchange flow of two mixtures in a vertical narrow duct (two-dimensional channel as well as pipe) theoretically. While the light mixture is assumed always to be a pure fluid, the heavy mixture can be selected as either a pure or a particle-laden fluid. A small width-to-length ratio considered for the duct ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}\ll 1$) has been used as the perturbation parameter in developing a lubrication model (negligible inertia). In particular, we have adopted the methodology of Zhou et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 94, 2005, 117803) for free-surface particle-laden film flows and extended it to a lock exchange system in confined geometry under the Boussinesq approximation. The resulting model is in the form of the classical Riemann problem and has been solved numerically using a robust total variation diminishing finite difference scheme. Both pure and particle-laden cases are investigated in detail. It is observed that the interface between the two fluids takes a self-similar shape at long times. In the case that both heavy and light fluids are pure, the dynamics of the flow is governed by two dimensionless quantities, namely the Reynolds number, $Re$, and the viscosity ratio, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}$, of the light and heavy fluids. The interpenetration of the heavy and light layers increases with $Re$ but decreases with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}$. Also, the heights of the heavy and light fronts change with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}$ but remain unchanged with $Re$. In the case of the particle-laden flow, however, four additional dimensionless parameters emerge, namely the initial volume fraction of particles, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}$, the ratio of particle diameter to duct width, $r_{p}$, and the density ratios of particles to carrying fluid, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}$, and of light fluid to carrying fluid, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}$. The effect of these parameters on the dynamics of the flow has been quantified through a systematic approach. In the presence of solid particles, the interface between the heavy and light layers becomes more curved compared to the case of pure fluids. This modification occurs due to the change of heavy mixture viscosity alongside the duct. Novel particle-rich zones are further discovered in the vicinity of the advancing heavy and light fronts. These zones are associated with different transport rates of the fluid and solid particles. The degree of particle enrichment remains the same with $Re$, is enhanced by $\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}$, $r_{p}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}$, and is slightly diminished with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}$. On the other hand, the stretched exchange zone between the heavy and light fronts grows with $r_{p}$, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}$ and $Re$, but decays with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}$, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D705}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D709}$.

The spatial signature of spanwise velocity coherence in turbulent boundary layers has been studied using a series of unique large-field-of-view multicamera particle image velocimetry experiments, which were configured to capture streamwise/spanwise slices of the boundary layer in both the logarithmic and the wake regions. The friction Reynolds number of $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}}\approx 2600$ was chosen to nominally match the simulation of Sillero et al. (Phys. Fluids, vol. 26 (10), 2014, 105109), who had previously reported oblique features of the spanwise coherence at the top edge of the boundary layer based on the sign of the spanwise velocity, and here we find consistent observations from experiments. In this work, we show that these oblique features in the spanwise coherence relate to the intermittent turbulent bulges at the edge of the layer, and thus the geometry of the turbulent/non-turbulent interface, with the clear appearance of two counter-oriented oblique features. Further, these features are shown to be also present in the logarithmic region once the velocity fields are deconstructed based on the sign of both the spanwise and the streamwise velocity, suggesting that the often-reported meandering of the streamwise-velocity coherence in the logarithmic region is associated with a more obvious diagonal pattern in the spanwise velocity coherence. Moreover, even though a purely visual inspection of the obliqueness in the spanwise coherence may suggest that it extends over a very large spatial extent (beyond many boundary layer thicknesses), through a conditional analysis, we show that this coherence is limited to distances nominally less than two boundary layer thicknesses. Interpretation of these findings is aided by employing synthetic velocity fields of a boundary layer constructed using the attached eddy model, where the range of eddy sizes can be prescribed. Comparisons between the model, which employs an array of self-similar packet-like eddies that are randomly distributed over the plane of the wall, and the experimental velocity fields reveal a good degree of agreement, with both exhibiting oblique features in the spanwise coherence over comparable spatial extents. These findings suggest that the oblique features in the spanwise coherence are likely to be associated with similar structures to those used in the model, providing one possible underpinning structural composition that leads to this behaviour. Further, these features appear to be limited in spatial extent to only the order of the large-scale motions in the flow.

The main goal of this paper is to provide insights into swash flow dynamics, generated by a non-breaking solitary wave on a steep slope. Both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the details of runup and rundown processes. Special attention is given to the evolution of the bottom boundary layer over the slope in terms of flow separation, vortex formation and the development of a hydraulic jump during the rundown phase. Laboratory experiments were performed to measure the flow velocity fields by means of high-speed particle image velocimetry (HSPIV). Detailed pathline patterns of the swash flows and free-surface profiles were also visualized. Highly resolved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out. Numerical results are compared with laboratory measurements with a focus on the velocities inside the boundary layer. The overall agreement is excellent during the initial stage of the runup process. However, discrepancies in the model/data comparison grow as time advances because the numerical model does not simulate the shoreline dynamics accurately. Introducing small temporal and spatial shifts in the comparison yields adequate agreement during the entire rundown process. Highly resolved numerical solutions are used to study physical variables that are not measured in laboratory experiments (e.g. pressure field and bottom shear stress). It is shown that the main mechanism for vortex shedding is correlated with the large pressure gradient along the slope as the rundown flow transitions from supercritical to subcritical, under the developing hydraulic jump. Furthermore, the bottom shear stress analysis indicates that the largest values occur at the shoreline and that the relatively large bottom shear stress also takes place within the supercritical flow region, being associated with the backwash vortex system rather than the plunging wave. It is clearly demonstrated that the combination of laboratory observations and numerical simulations have indeed provided significant insights into the swash flow processes.

We study analytically the joint dispersion of Gaussian patches of salt and colloids in linear flows, and how salt gradients accelerate or delay colloid spreading by diffusiophoretic effects. Because these flows have constant gradients in space, the problem can be solved almost entirely for any set of parameters, leading to predictions of how the mixing time and the Batchelor scale are modified by diffusiophoresis. We observe that the evolution of global concentrations, defined as the inverse of the patches’ areas, are very similar to those obtained experimentally in chaotic advection. They are quantitatively explained by examining the area dilatation factor, in which diffusive and diffusiophoretic effects are shown to be additive and appear as the divergence of a diffusive contribution or of a drift velocity. An analysis based on compressibility is developed in the salt-attracting case, for which colloids are first compressed before dispersion, to predict the maximal colloid concentration as a function of the parameters. This maximum is found not to depend on the flow stretching rate nor on its topology (strain or shear flow), but only on the characteristics of salt and colloids (diffusion coefficients and diffusiophoretic constant) and the initial size of the patches.

We first analytically show, starting with the Navier–Stokes equations, that the value of the derivative flatness is controlled by pressure diffusion of energy, viscous destructive effects and large-scale effects (decay and/or production). The latter two terms tend to zero when the Taylor-microscale Reynolds number $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$ is sufficiently large. We argue that the pressure-diffusion term should also tend to a constant at large $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$. Available data for the velocity derivative flatness, $F$, in different turbulent flows are re-examined and interpreted in the light of the finite-Reynolds-number effect. It is found that $F$ can differ from flow to flow at moderate $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$; for a given flow, $F$ may also depend on the initial conditions. The data for $F$ in various flows, e.g. along the axis in the far field of plane and circular jets, and grid turbulence, show that it approaches a constant, with a value slightly larger than 10, when $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$ is sufficiently large. This behaviour for $F$ is supported, at least qualitatively, by our analytical considerations. The constancy of $F$ at large $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$ violates the refined similarity hypothesis introduced by Kolmogorov (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 13, 1962, pp. 82–85) to account for the intermittency of the energy dissipation rate. It is not, however, inconsistent with Kolmogorov’s original similarity hypothesis (Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR, vol. 30, 1941, pp. 299–303), although we contend that the power-law relation $F\sim Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}_{4}}$ (Kolmogorov 1962), which is widely accepted in the literature, has in reality been almost invariably used to ‘model’ the finite-Reynolds-number effect for the laboratory data and has been strongly influenced by the weighting given to the atmospheric surface layer data. The inclusion of the latter data has misled previous investigations of how $F$ varies with $Re_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}}$.

From the analysis of the isentropic limit of weak compression shock waves, oblique shock waves in which the post-shock Mach number is larger than the pre-shock Mach number, named non-ideal oblique shocks, are admissible in substances characterized by moderate molecular complexity and in the close proximity to the liquid–vapour saturation curve. Non-ideal oblique shocks of finite amplitude are systematically analysed, clarifying the roles of the pre-shock thermodynamic state and Mach number. The necessary conditions for the occurrence of non-ideal oblique shocks of finite amplitude are singled out. In the parameter space of pre-shock thermodynamic states and Mach number, a new domain is defined which embeds the pre-shock states for which the Mach number increase can possibly take place. The present findings are confirmed by state-of-the-art thermodynamic models applied to selected commercially available fluids, including siloxanes and hydrocarbons currently used as working fluids in renewable energy systems.

The formation of a cluster of activated fractures when fluid is injected in a low permeability rock is analysed. A fractured rock is modelled as a dual porosity medium that consists of a growing cluster of activated fractures and the rock’s intrinsic porosity. An integro-differential equation for fluid pressure in the developing cluster of fractures is introduced to account for the pressure-driven flow through the cluster, the loss of fluid into the porous matrix and the evolution of the cluster’s permeability and porosity as the fractures are activated. Conditions under which the dependence of the permeability and porosity on the fluid pressure can be derived from percolation theory are discussed. It is shown that the integro-differential equation admits a similarity solution for the fluid pressure and that the cluster radius grows as a power law of time in two regimes: (i) a short-time regime, when many fractures are activated but pressure-driven flow in the network still dominates over fluid loss; and (ii) a long-time regime, when fluid loss dominates. The power law exponents in the two regimes are functions of the Euclidean dimension of the cluster, percolation universal exponents and the injection protocol. The model predicts that the effects of the fluid properties on the morphology of the formed network are different in the two similarity regimes. For example, increasing the injection rate with time, in the flow dominant regime, produces a smaller cluster of activated fractures than that formed by injecting the fluid at a constant rate. In the fluid loss dominated regime, however, ramping up the injection rate produces a larger cluster.

In this work, a data assimilation method is proposed following an optimise-then-discretise approach, and is applied in the context of computational haemodynamics. The methodology aims to make use of phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging to perform optimal flow control in computational fluid dynamic simulations. Flow matching between observations and model predictions is performed in luminal regions, excluding near-wall areas, improving the near-wall flow reconstruction to enhance the estimation of related quantities such as wall shear stresses. The proposed approach remarkably improves the flow field at the aortic root and reveals a great potential for predicting clinically relevant haemodynamic phenomenology. This work presents model validation against an analytical solution using the standard 3-D Hagen–Poiseuille flow, and validation with real data involving the flow control problem in a glass replica of a human aorta imaged with a 3T magnetic resonance scanner. In vitro experiments consist of both a numerically generated reference flow solution, which is considered as the ground truth, as well as real flow MRI data obtained from phase-contrast flow acquisitions. The validation against the in vitro flow MRI experiments is performed for different flow regimes and model parameters including different mesh refinements.

The classical Stokes’ problem describing the fluid motion due to a steadily moving infinite wall is revisited in the context of dense granular flows of mono-dispersed beads using the recently proposed $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$-rheology. In Newtonian fluids, molecular diffusion brings about a self-similar velocity profile and the boundary layer in which the fluid motion takes place increases indefinitely with time $t$ as $\sqrt{\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}t}$, where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}$ is the kinematic viscosity. For a dense granular viscoplastic liquid, it is shown that the local shear stress, when properly rescaled, exhibits self-similar behaviour at short time scales and it then rapidly evolves towards a steady-state solution. The resulting shear layer increases in thickness as $\sqrt{\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}_{g}t}$ analogous to a Newtonian fluid where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}_{g}$ is an equivalent granular kinematic viscosity depending not only on the intrinsic properties of the granular medium, such as grain diameter $d$, density $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}$ and friction coefficients, but also on the applied pressure $p_{w}$ at the moving wall and the solid fraction $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$ (constant). In addition, the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$-rheology indicates that this growth continues until reaching the steady-state boundary layer thickness $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{s}=\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{w}(p_{w}/\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}g)$, independent of the grain size, at approximately a finite time proportional to $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{w}^{2}(p_{w}/\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}gd)^{3/2}\sqrt{d/g}$, where $g$ is the acceleration due to gravity and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{w}=(\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}-\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{s})/\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{s}$ is the relative surplus of the steady-state wall shear stress $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}$ over the critical wall shear stress $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{s}$ (yield stress) that is needed to bring the granular medium into motion. For the case of Stokes’ first problem when the wall shear stress $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}$ is imposed externally, the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$-rheology suggests that the wall velocity simply grows as $\sqrt{t}$ before saturating to a constant value whereby the internal resistance of the granular medium balances out the applied stresses. In contrast, for the case with an externally imposed wall speed $u_{w}$, the dense granular medium near the wall initially maintains a shear stress very close to $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{d}$ which is the maximum internal resistance via grain–grain contact friction within the context of the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$-rheology. Then the wall shear stress $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}$ decreases as $1/\sqrt{t}$ until ultimately saturating to a constant value so that it gives precisely the same steady-state solution as for the imposed shear-stress case. Thereby, the steady-state wall velocity, wall shear stress and the applied wall pressure are related as $u_{w}\sim (g\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{s}^{2}/\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}_{g})f(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{w})$ where $f(\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{w})$ is either $O(1)$ if $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}\sim \unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{s}$ or logarithmically large as $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}$ approaches $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{d}$.

Many animals that swim or fly use their body to accelerate the fluid around them, transferring momentum from their flexible bodies and appendages to the surrounding fluid. The kinematics that emerge from this transfer result from the coupling between the fluid and the active and passive material properties of the flexible body or appendages. To elucidate the fundamental features of the elastohydrodynamics of flexible appendages, recent physical experiments have quantified the propulsive performance of flexible panels that are actuated on their leading edge. Here we present a complementary computational study of a three-dimensional flexible panel that is heaved sinusoidally at its leading edge in an incompressible, viscous fluid. These high-fidelity numerical simulations enable us to examine how propulsive performance depends on mechanical resonance, fluid forces, and the emergent panel deformations. Moreover, the computational model does not require the tethering of the panel. We therefore compare the thrust production of tethered panels to the forward swimming speed of the same panels that can move forward freely. Varying both the passive material properties and the heaving frequency of the panel, we find that local peaks in trailing edge amplitude and forward swimming speed coincide and that they are determined by a non-dimensional quantity, the effective flexibility, that arises naturally in the Euler–Bernoulli beam equation. Modal decompositions of panel deflections reveal that the amplitude of each mode is related to the effective flexibility. Panels of different material properties that are actuated so that their effective flexibilities are closely matched have modal contributions that evolve similarly over the phase of the heaving cycle, leading to similar vortex structures in their wakes and comparable thrust forces and swimming speeds. Moreover, local peaks in the swimming speed and trailing edge amplitude correspond to peaks in the contributions of the different modes. This computational study of freely swimming flexible panels gives further insight into the role of resonance in swimming performance that is important in the engineering and design of robotic propulsors. Moreover, we view this reduced model and its comparison to laboratory experiments as a building block and validation for a more comprehensive three-dimensional computational model of an undulatory swimmer that will couple neural activation, muscle mechanics and body elasticity with the surrounding viscous, incompressible fluid.

We study stimulated generation – the transfer of energy from balanced flows to existing internal waves – using an asymptotic model that couples barotropic quasi-geostrophic flow and near-inertial waves with $\text{e}^{\text{i}mz}$ vertical structure, where $m$ is the vertical wavenumber and $z$ is the vertical coordinate. A detailed description of the conservation laws of this vertical-plane-wave model illuminates the mechanism of stimulated generation associated with vertical vorticity and lateral strain. There are two sources of wave potential energy, and corresponding sinks of balanced kinetic energy: the refractive convergence of wave action density into anti-cyclones (and divergence from cyclones); and the enhancement of wave-field gradients by geostrophic straining. We quantify these energy transfers and describe the phenomenology of stimulated generation using numerical solutions of an initially uniform inertial oscillation interacting with mature freely evolving two-dimensional turbulence. In all solutions, stimulated generation co-exists with a transfer of balanced kinetic energy to large scales via vortex merging. Also, geostrophic straining accounts for most of the generation of wave potential energy, representing a sink of 10 %–20 % of the initial balanced kinetic energy. However, refraction is fundamental because it creates the initial eddy-scale lateral gradients in the near-inertial field that are then enhanced by advection. In these quasi-inviscid solutions, wave dispersion is the only mechanism that upsets stimulated generation: with a barotropic balanced flow, lateral straining enhances the wave group velocity, so that waves accelerate and rapidly escape from straining regions. This wave escape prevents wave energy from cascading to dissipative scales.

The present direct numerical simulation (DNS) study, the first of its kind, explores the effect that the location of a cylinder, immersed in the turbulent wake of a grid-element, has on heat transfer. An insulated single square grid-element is used to generate the turbulent wake upstream of the heated circular cylinder. Due to fine-scale resolution requirements, the simulations are carried out for a low Reynolds number. Three locations downstream of the grid-element, inside the production, peak and decay regions, respectively, are considered. The turbulent flow in the production and peak regions is highly intermittent, non-Gaussian and inhomogeneous, while it is Gaussian, homogeneous and fully turbulent in the decay region. The turbulence intensities at the location of the cylinder in the production and decay regions are almost equal at 11 %, while the peak location has the highest turbulence intensity of 15 %. A baseline simulation of heat transfer from the cylinder without oncoming turbulence was also performed. Although the oncoming turbulent intensities are similar, the production region increases the stagnation point heat transfer by 63 %, while in the decay region it is enhanced by only 28 %. This difference cannot be explained only by the increased approaching velocity in the production region. The existing correlations for the stagnation point heat transfer coefficient are found invalid for the production and peak locations, while they are satisfied in the decay region. It is established that the flow in the production and peak regions is dominated by shedding events, in which the predominant vorticity component is in the azimuthal direction. This leads to increased heat transfer from the cylinder, even before vorticity is stretched by the accelerating boundary layer. The frequency of oncoming turbulence in production and peak cases also lies close to the range of frequencies that can penetrate the boundary layer developing on the cylinder, and therefore the latter is very responsive to the impinging disturbances. The highest Nusselt number along the circumference of the cylinder is shifted 45 degrees from the front stagnation point. This shift is due to the turbulence-generating grid-element bars that result in the prevalence of intense events at the point of maximum Nusselt number compared to the stagnation point.

A model for calculating the force profile and the moment profile of a floating body in two dimensions with an arbitrary cross-section is proposed. Three types of cross-sections with different contact angles and densities are calculated by using the model to determine the vertical and rotational equilibria and their stabilities. Results show that the model can be applied to convex floating bodies with finitely many sharp edges. The study is then extended to investigate the surface tension effects on the vertical and rotational stabilities by varying the following parameters: the radii of curvature of the solid surface at the contact lines and the size of floating body. In general, the smaller the radii of curvature the better the vertical and rotational stabilities. However, for the contact angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}=0$ (or $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}=\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}$) the radii of curvature have no effect on the vertical stability of the floating body. By varying the size of the floating body, it is found that the vertical and rotational stabilities of mesoscale floating bodies vary continuously between the stabilities of the macroscale and microscale floating bodies with other parameters remaining unchanged.

The causative factors leading to the Reynolds shear stress distribution in turbulent channel flow are analysed via a backward particle path analysis. It is found that the classical displacement transport mechanism, by which changes in the mean velocity field over a mixing time correlate with the wall-normal velocity, is the dominant source of Reynolds shear stress. Approximately 20 % of channel flow at any given time contains fluid motions that contribute to displacement transport. Much rarer events provide a small but non-negligible contribution to the Reynolds shear stress due to fluid particle accelerations and long-lived correlations deriving from structural features of the near-wall flow. The Reynolds shear stress in channel flow is shown to be a non-local phenomenon that is not conducive to description via a local model and particularly one depending directly on the local mean velocity gradient.

In this study, macro-rough flows over beds with different permeability values are simulated using the large-eddy simulation, and the results are analysed by applying the double-averaging (DA) methodology. Spheres of different sizes and arrangements were used to form the beds, which are deemed to be permeable granular beds. The influence of bed permeability on the turbulence dynamics and structure is investigated. It was observed that the scales of the spanwise vortical structures over more permeable beds are larger than those over less permeable beds. This is attributed to large-scale spanwise-alternate strips of varying Reynolds shear stress (RSS), emerging from the surface of macro-rough elements for the permeable beds. The DA stress balance suggests that the time-averaged spanwise vortical structure leads to a damping in DA RSS and an unusual peak of the form-induced stress in the main flow. In the streamwise direction, both large turbulent structures that originate from the Kelvin–Helmholtz-type instability and small turbulent structures that are associated with the turbulent transport across the gaps of the roughness elements are more prevalent over highly permeable beds. Near the bed, the relative magnitude of turbulent events shows a transition from a ejections-dominating to sweeps-dominating zone with vertical distance. Further, several hydrodynamic characteristics normalized by inner scales (kinematic viscosity to shear velocity ratio) show a greater dependency on permeability Reynolds number than those normalized by sediment size. The study provides an insight into the mechanism of mass transfer near the fluid–particle interface, which is vital to benthic and aquatic ecology.