An example is presented of a separated flow in an unbounded domain in which, as the Reynolds number becomes large, the separated region remains of size 0(1) and tends to a non-trivial Prandtl-Batchelor flow. The multigrid method is used to obtain rapid convergence to the solution of the discretized Navier-Stokes equations at Reynolds numbers of up to 5000. Extremely fine grids and tests of an integral property of the flow ensure accuracy. The flow exhibits the separation of a boundary layer with ensuing formation of a downstream eddy and reattachment of a free shear layer. The asymptotic (’triple deck’) theory of laminar separation from a leading edge, due to Sychev (1979), is clarified and compared to the numerical solutions. Much better qualitative agreement is obtained than has been reported previously. Together with a plausible choice of two free parameters, the data can be extrapolated to infinite Reynolds number, giving quantitative agreement with triple-deck theory with errors of 20% or less. The development of a region of constant vorticity is observed in the downstream eddy, and the global infinite-Reynolds-number limit is a Prandtl-Batchelor flow; however, when the plate is stationary, the occurrence of secondary separation suggests that the limiting flow contains an infinite sequence of eddies behind the separation point. Secondary separation can be averted by driving the plate, and in this case the limit is a single-vortex Prandtl-Batchelor flow of the type found by Moore, Saffman & Tanveer (1988); detailed, encouraging comparisons are made to the vortex-sheet strength and position. Altering the boundary condition on the plate gives viscous eddies that approximate different members of the family of inviscid solutions.

We present the results of a study of the inviscid spatial stability of a parallel three-dimensional compressible mixing layer. The parameters of this study are the Mach number of the fast stream, the ratio of the speed of the slow stream to that of the fast stream, the ratio of the temperature of the slow stream to that of the fast stream, the direction of the crossflow in the fast stream, the frequency, and the direction of propagation of the disturbance wave. Stability characteristics of the flow as a function of these parameters are given. Certain theoretical results are presented which show the interrelations between these parameters and their effects on the stability characteristics. In particular, the three-dimensional stability problem for a three-dimensional mixing layer at Mach zero can be transformed to a two-dimensional stability problem for an equivalent two-dimensional mean flow. There exists a one-parameter family of curves such that for any given direction of mean flow and of wave propagation one can apply this transformation and obtain the growth rate from the universal curves. For supersonic couvective Mach numbers, certain combinations of crossflow angle and propagation angle of the disturbance can increase the growth rates by a factor of about two. and thus enhance mixing.

The description of the slow viscous flow due to the axisymmetric or asymmetric translation of an annular disk involves the solution of respectively one or two sets of triple integral equations involving Bessel functions. An efficient method is presented for transforming each set into a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. Simple, regular kernels are obtained and the required physical constants are readily available. The method is also applied to the pressure-driven extrusion flow through an annular hole in a wall. The velocity profiles in the holes are found to be flatter than expected with correspondingly sharper variation near a rim. For the sideways motion of a disk, an exact solution is given with bounded velocities and both components of the rim pressure singularity minimized. The additional drag experienced by this disk when the fluid is bounded by walls parallel to the motion is then determined by solving a pair of integral equations, according to methods given in an earlier paper.

Buoyancy-driven flow on a heated inclined plate can become unstable to static longitudinal roil instability at a critical distance, measured by $\tilde{R}_{\rm c}$, from the leading edge. Experiments in water by Sparrow & Husar (1969) indicate that these rolls undergo a second transition further downstream such that adjacent rolls merge and their spanwise wavelength is doubled. We study this secondary bifurcation phenomenon here with a set of model equations by first constructing the full eigenspectrum and eigenfunctions with a Chebyshev–Tau spectral method and then deriving the pertinent amplitude equations. By stipulating that the dimensional cross-stream wavelength of the rolls remains constant beyond $\tilde{R}_{\rm c}$, which is consistent with experimental observation, we show that the finite-amplitude primary rolls are destabilized by the ½ subharmonic mode at another critical distance $\tilde{R}_{\frac{1}{2}}$ from the edge. This ½ mode is shown to have an asymmetric spatial phase shift of ½π relative to the original 1 mode of the primary rolls, thus explaining the unique dislocation of tracer streaks after the rolls coalesce in the experiments. Also consistent with experimental observation is the theoretical result that the merged rolls are annihilated downstream by a saddle-node bifurcation before further wavclength doubling can occur. Simple amplitude criteria and critical distances from the leading edge for the various transitions are derived and compared to experimental values.

We implement a linear stability analysis of the convective instability in superposed horizontal fluid and porous layers with throughflow in the vertical direction. It is found that in such a physical configuration both stabilizing and destabilizing factors due to vertical throughflow can be enhanced so that a more precise control of the buoyantly driven instability in either a fluid or a porous layer is possible. For ζ = 0.1 (ζ, the depth ratio, defined as the ratio of the fluid-layer depth to the porous-layer depth), the onset of convection occurs in both fluid and porous layers, the relation between the critical Rayleigh number Rcm and the throughflow strength γm is linear and the Prandtl-number (Prm) effect is insignificant. For ζ ≥ 0.2, the onset of convection is largely confined to the fluid layer, and the relation becomes Rcm ∼ γ2m for most of the cases considered except for Prm = 0.1 with large positive γm where the relation Rcm ∼ γ3m holds. The destabilizing mechanisms proposed by Nield (1987 a, b) due to throughflow are confirmed by the numerical results if considered from the viewpoint of the whole system. Nevertheless, from the viewpoint of each single layer, a different explanation can be obtained.

The mass transport of a diffusible substance during volume-cycled oscillatory flow in a thin-walled viscoelastic tube is studied. A small-amplitude, long-wavelength travelling wave is generated by the oscillatory pressure gradient. Lubrication theory is employed for slow axial variations to derive regular perturbation solutions to the Navier–Stokes equations. The convection–diffusion equation is solved in a similar manner, assuming uniform steady end concentrations and no wall flux. From the velocity and concentration fields, the time-average rate of axial mass transport is calculated, and its dependence on oscillation frequency, tube stiffness, and stroke amplitude is investigated. The general result is that transport is enhanced less for softer tubes than for stiffer ones and that mass flow rate as a function of frequency reaches a local maximal value. The results are related to gas transport in pulmonary airways during high-frequency ventilation.

The bifurcation structure of two-dimensional, pressure-driven flows through a horizontal, rectangular duet that is heated with a uniform flux in the axial direction and a uniform temperature around the periphery is examined. The solution structure of the flow in a square duct is determined for Grashof numbers (Gr) in the range of 0 to 106 using an arclength continuation scheme. The structure is much more complicated than reported earlier by Nandakumar, Masliyah & Law (1985). The primary branch with two limit points and a hysteresis behaviour between the two-and four-cell flow structure that was computed by Nandakumar et al. is confirmed. An additional symmetric solution branch, which is disconnected from the primary branch (or rather connected via an asymmetric solution branch), is found. This has a two-cell flow structure at one end, a four-cell flow structure at the other, and three limit points are located on the path. Two asymmetric solution branches emanating from symmetry-breaking bifurcation points are also found for a square duct. Thus a much richer solution structure is found with up to five solutions over certain ranges of Or. A determination of linear stability indicates that all two-dimensional solutions develop some form of unstable mode by the time Gr is increased to about 220000. In particular, the four-cell becomes unstable to asymmetric perturbations. The paths of the singular points are tracked with respect to variation in the aspect ratio using the fold-following algorithm. Transcritical points are found at aspect ratios of 1.408 and 1.456 respectively for Prandtl numbers Pr = 0.73 and 5. Above these aspect ratios the four-cell solution is no longer on the primary branch. Some of the fold curves are connected in such a way as to form a tilted cusp. When the channel cross-section is tilted even slightly (1°) with respect to the gravity vector, the bifurcation points unfold and the two-cell solution evolves smoothly as the Grashof number is increased. The four-cell solutions then become genuinely disconnected from the primary branch. The uniqueness range in Grashof number increases with increasing tilt, decreasing aspect ratio and decreasing Prandtl number.

Finite-amplitude, axially symmetric oscillations of small (0.2 mm) liquid droplets in a gaseous environment are studied, both experimentally and theoretically. When the amplitude of natural oscillations of the fundamental mode exceeds approximately 10% of the droplet radius, typical nonlinear effects like the dependence of the oscillation frequency on the amplitude, the asymmetry of the oscillation amplitude, and the interaction between modes are observed. As the amplitude decreases due to viscous damping, the oscillation frequency and the amplitude decay factor reach their asymptotical values predicted by linear theory. The initial behaviour of the droplet is described quite satisfactorily by a proposed nonlinear inviscid theoretical model.

An exact analytical study is presented for the electrophoresis of an infinite insulating cylinder in the proximity of an infinite plane wall parallel to its axis. The electric field is exerted perpendicular to the particle axis in two fundamental cases: normal to a conducting plane and parallel to a non-conducting wall. The electrical double layers adjacent to solid surfaces are assumed to be thin with respect to the particle radius and the gap thickness between surfaces. The two-dimensional electrostatic and hydrodynamic governing equations are solved in the quasi-steady limit using bipolar coordinates and the typical electric-field-line, equipotential-line and streamline patterns are exhibited. Corrections to Smoluchowski's equation for the electrophoretic velocities of the particle are determined in simple closed forms as a function of λ, the ratio of particle radius to distance of the particle axis from the wall. Interestingly, the electrophoretic mobility of the cylinder in the direction parallel to a dielectric plane increases monotonically as the particle approaches the wall and becomes infinity when the particle touches the wall. For the motion of a cylinder normal to a conducting plane, the presence of the wall causes a reduction in the electrophoretic velocity, which goes to zero as λ → 1. It is found that boundary effects on the electrophoresis of a cylinder are much stronger than for a sphere at the same value of λ. The boundary effects on the particle mobility and on the fluid flow pattern in electrophoresis differ significantly from those of the corresponding sedimentation problem with which comparisons are made.

Hot-wire measurements were carried out in boundary layers developing along a flat plate over which wakes passed periodically. The wakes were generated by cylinders moving on a squirrel cage in front of the plate leading edge. The flow situation studied is an idealization of that occurring on turbomachinery blades where unsteady wakes are generated by the preceding row of blades. The influence of wake-passing frequency on the boundary-layer development and in particular on the transition processes was examined. The hot-wire signals were processed to yield ensemble-average values and the fluctuations could be separated into periodic and stochastic turbulent components. Hot-wire traces are reported as well as time variations of periodic and ensemble-averaged turbulent fluctuations and of the boundary-layer integral parameters, yielding a detailed picture of the flow development. The Reynolds number was relatively low so that in the limiting case of a boundary layer undisturbed by wakes this remained laminar over the full length of the test plate. When wakes passed over the plate, the boundary layer was found to be turbulent quite early underneath the free-stream disturbances due to the wakes, while it remained initially laminar underneath the undisturbed free-stream regions in between. The turbulent boundary-layer stripes underneath the disturbed free stream travel downstream and grow together so that the embedded laminar regions disappear and the boundary layer becomes fully turbulent. The streamwise location where this happens moves upstream with increasing wake-passing frequency, and a clear correlation could be determined in the experiments. The results are also reported in a mean Lagrangian frame by following fluid parcels underneath the disturbed and undisturbed free stream, respectively, as they travel downstream.

The evolution of streamwise vortices in a plane mixing layer and their role in the generation of small-scale three-dimensional motion are studied in a closed-return water facility. Spanwise-periodic streamwise vortices are excited by a time-harmonic wavetrain with span wise-periodic amplitude variations synthesized by a mosaic of 32 surface film heaters flush-mounted on the flow partition. For a given excitation frequency, virtually any span wise wavelength synthesizable by the heating mosaic can be excited and can lead to the formation of streamwise vortices before the rollup of the primary vortices is completed. The onset of streamwise vortices is accompanied by significant distortion in the transverse distribution of the streamwise velocity component. The presence of inflexion points, absent in corresponding velocity distributions of the unforced flow, suggests the formation of locally unstable regions of large shear in which broadband perturbations already present in the base flow undergo rapid amplification, followed by breakdown to small-scale motion. Furthermore, as a result of spanwise-non-uniform excitation the cores of the primary vortices are significantly altered. The three-dimensional features of the streamwise vortices and their interaction with the base flow are inferred from surfaces of r.m.s. velocity fluctuations and an approximation to cross-stream vorticity using three-dimensional single component velocity data. The striking enhancement of small-scale motion and the spatial modification of its distribution, both induced by the streamwise vortices, can be related to the onset of the mixing transition.

The evolution equation is derived for a weakly nonlinear coastal Kelvin wave propagating in slowly varying topography in an f-plane ocean. For weak transverse variations in the topography, the wave evolution is governed by a perturbed Korteweg–de Vries equation. In the absence of transverse variation, wave dispersion vanishes and the evolution equation reduces to a nonlinear advection equation with variable coefficients. As a general property of these equations, the total mass flux associated with the Kelvin wave is not conserved; residual mass must be generated. It is shown by an asymptotic analysis that this residual mass field is in balance with a mean geostrophic current long after the passage of the Kelvin wave. This result is verified using a numerical model. The physical mechanism evolved in the generation of the residual mass can be understood in terms of potential vorticity conservation.

Surface capillary–gravity waves are experimentally investigated in a cylindrical basin subjected to a horizontal oscillation by using a high-sensitivity optical method. We study the low-oscillation-amplitude regimes for a fluid which wets the vertical walls and we show that the presence of the capillary meniscus can effect greatly the main properties of the system. Both the free decay and the forced oscillations of surface oscillations are investigated. The amplitude, the phase and the damping of gravity waves are investigated in detail. The damping of the fundamental surface mode is found to exhibit nonlinear behaviour which is in qualitative agreement with the predictions of the Miles (1967) theory of capillary damping. The amplitude and the phase of gravity waves with respect to the oscillation of the container exhibit unusual behaviour which is strictly connected with the presence of the wetting boundary condition for the fluid at the vertical walls.

We analyse the dilute, steady, fully developed flow of relatively massive particles in a turbulent gas in the context of a vertical pipe. The idea is that the exchange of momentum in collisions between the grains and between the grains and the wall plays a significant role in the balance of forces in the particle phase. Consequently, the particle phase is considered to be a dilute system of colliding grains, in which the velocity fluctuations are produced by collisions rather than by the gas turbulence. The balance equations for rapid granular flow are modified to incorporate the drag force from the gas, and boundary conditions, based on collisional exchanges of momentum and energy at the wall, are employed. The turbulence of the gas is treated using a one-equation closure. A numerical solution of the resulting governing equations provides velocity and turbulent energy profiles in agreement with the measurements of Tsuji et al. (1984).

The linear-eddy approach for modelling molecular mixing in turbulent flow involves stochastic simulation on a one-dimensional domain with sufficient resolution to include all physically relevant lengthscales. In each realization, molecular diffusion is implemented deterministically, punctuated by a sequence of instantaneous, statistically independent ‘rearrangement events’ (measure-preserving maps) representing turbulent stirring. These events emulate the effect of compressive strain on the scalar field. An inertial-range similarity law is incorporated.

The model reproduces key features of scalar power spectra, including dependences of spectra! amplitudes and transition wavenumbers on Reynolds and Schmidt numbers. Computed scaling exponents governing scalar power spectra, higher-order fluctuation statistics such as structure functions, and the spatial distribution of scalar level crossings are close to measured exponents. It is inferred that the characterization of stirring as a sequence of independent events (the model analogue of eddies) leads to a useful representation of mixing-field microstructure.

Mass transport in various kind of two-dimensional water waves is studied. The characteristics of the governing equations for the mass transport depend on the ratio of viscous lengthscale to the amplitude of the free-surface displacement. When this ratio is small, the nonlinearity is important and the mass transport flow acquires a boundary-layer character. Numerical schemes are developed to investigate mass transport in a partially reflected wave and above a hump in the seabed. When the mass transport is periodic in the horizontal direction, a spectral scheme based on a Fourier–Chebyshev expansion, is presented for the solution of the equations. For the ease of a hump on the seabed, the flow domain is divided into three regions. Using the spectral scheme, the mass transport in the uniform-depth regions is calculated first. and the results are used to compute the steady flow in the inhomogeneous flow region which encloses the hump on the seabed.

A spectral scheme is developed to study the mass transport in three-dimensional water waves where the steady flow is assumed to be periodic in two horizontal directions. The velocity–vorticity formulation is adopted for the numerical solution, and boundary conditions for the vorticity are derived to enforce the no-slip conditions. The numerical scheme is used to calculate the mass transport under two intersecting wave trains; the resulting flow is reminiscent of the Langmuir circulation patterns. The scheme is then applied to study the steady flow in a three-dimensional standing wave.

In both Boussinesq and non-Boussinesq cases the Green's function of internal gravity waves is calculated, exactly for monochromatic waves and asymptotically for impulsive waves. From its differentiation the pressure and velocity fields generated by a point source are deduced. by the same method the Boussinesq monochromatic and impulsive waves radiated by a pulsating sphere are investigated.

Boussinesq monochromatic waves of frequency ω < N are confined between characteristic cones θ = arccos(ω/N) tangent to the source region (N being the buoyancy frequency and θ the observation angle from the vertical). In that zone the point source model is inadequate. For the sphere an explicit form is given for the waves, which describes their conical 1/r½ radial decay and their transverse phase variations.

Impulsive waves comprise gravity and buoyancy waves, whose separation process is non-Boussinesq and follows the arrival of an Airy wave. As time t elapses, inside the torus of vertical axis and horizontal radius 2Nt/β for gravity waves and inside the circumscribing cylinder for buoyancy waves, both components become Boussinesq and have wavelengths negligible compared with the scale height 2/β of the stratification. Then, gravity waves are plane propagating waves of frequency N cos θ, and buoyancy waves are radial oscillations of the fluid at frequency N; for the latter, initially propagating waves comparable with gravity waves, the horizontal phase variations have vanished and the amplitude has become insignificant as the Boussinesq zone has been entered. In this zone, outside the torus of vertical axis and horizontal radius Nta, a sphere of radius a [Lt ] 2/β is compact compared with the wavelength of the dominant gravity waves. Inside the torus gravity waves vanish by destructive interference. For the remaining buoyancy oscillations the sphere is compact outside the vertical cylinder circumscribing it, whereas the fluid is quiescent inside this cylinder.

The frequency response of the shear layers separating from a circular cylinder subject to small-amplitude rotational oscillations has been investigated experimentally in water for the Reynolds number (Re) range 250 to 1200. A hot-film anemometer was placed in the separated shear layers from 1 to 1.5 diameters downstream of the cylinder, and connected to a lock-in analyser. by referencing the lock-in analyser to the cylinder oscillations, the amplitude and phase of the response to different frequency oscillations were measured directly. It is shown that rotational oscillations corresponding to cylinder peripheral speeds between 0.5 and 3% of the free stream can be used to influence the primary (Kármán) mode of vortex generation. For Re greater than ≈ 500, such oscillations can also force the shear-layer vortices associated with the instability of the separating shear layers. Corresponding to the primary and shear-layer modes are two distinct peaks in response amplitude versus frequency curves, and two very different phase versus frequency curves. The response of the shear layers (and near wake) in the range of Kármán frequency suggests qualitative similarities with the response of an oscillator near resonance. Forced oscillations in the higher-frequency shear-layer mode range are simply convected by the shear layers. Close to the cylinder, the shear-layer response is shown to be comparable to that of generic free shear layers studied by others.

A numerical study of three-dimensional equilibria and transition to turbulence in flow over a backward-facing step is performed using direct numerical solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical method is a high-order-accurate mixed spectral/spectral-element method with efficient viscous outflow boundary conditions. The appearance of three-dimensionality in nominally two-dimensional geometries is investigated at representative Reynolds numbers ranging from the onset of three-dimensional bifurcation to later transitional stages. Strongly three-dimensional regions are identified through standard correlation coefficients and new three-dimensionality indices, as well as through instantaneous and time-average streamline patterns and vorticity contours. Our results indicate that onset of three-dimensionality occurs at the boundaries between the primary and secondary recirculating zones with the main channel flow, the latter being the most stable flow component. There is. therefore, strong secondary instability in the shear layers, mainly due to the one emanating from the step corner.

The flow further downstream is excited through the action of the upstream shear layers acquiring a wavy form closely resembling Tollmien–Schlichting waves both spatially and temporally with a characteristic frequency f1; upstream, at the shear layer another incommensurate frequency, f2, is present. The two-frequency flow locks-in to a single frequency if external excitations are imposed at the inflow at a frequency close to f1 or f2; the smaller amplitude excitations, however, may cause a strong quasi-periodic response. Such excitations may significantly increase or decrease (by more than 20%) the length of the primary separation zone XR at lock-in or quasi-periodic states. The equilibrium states resulting from the secondary instability at supercritical Reynolds numbers produce a flow modulated in the spanwise direction, with corresponding variations in the reattachment location XR. While three-dimensionality explains partially the discrepancy between numerical predictions and experimental results on XR at higher Reynolds number Re, the main source of discrepancy is attributed to the inflow conditions, and in particular to external disturbances superimposed on the mean flow, the latter being the main reason also for the somewhat earlier transition found in laboratory experiments.