The problem of electric charge convection in a dielectric liquid layer of high ionic purity, when subjected to unipolar injection, is in many ways analogous to that of thermal convection in a horizontal fluid layer heated from below, although no formal analogy can be established. The problem treated is intrinsically more nonlinear than the thermal problem. We consider two asymptotic states of convection: one where the whole motion is dominated by viscosity, and one where inertial effects dominate. In each state, two or three spatial regions are distinguished. From the approximate equations that hold in the different regions, information about the variation of the different quantities with distance from the injector is obtained, and further approximations permit us to establish the dependence of the current density ratio I/I0 (called the electric Nusselt number) on the stability parameter T = M2R = εϕ0/Kρν, and on 1/R = ν/Kϕ0, which is an equivalent Prandtl number (ε is the permittivity, ρ the fluid density, K the mobility, ν the kinematic viscosity, and ϕ0 the applied voltage). In the viscous state, the analysis gives I/I0 ∞ T½; in the inertial state the law I/I0 ∞ (T/R)1/4 = M½ is obtained. Since M is independent of the applied voltage, the latter law shows the saturation in the electric Nusselt number observed in earlier experiments. The transition in the states is associated with a transition number (MR)T [gap ] 30, which is an electric Reynolds number, related to an ordinary Reynolds number of about 10.

The experimental results, obtained in liquids of very different viscosities and dielectric constants, verify these theoretical predictions; further, they yield more precise numerical coefficients. As for the transition criteria, the experiments confirm that the viscous and inertial effects are of the same order when Re [gap ] 10. It was also possible to determine roughly the limits of the viscous and inertial states. The viscous analysis remains valid up to a Reynolds number of about 1; the inertial state can be considered valid down to a Reynolds number of 60. Schlieren observations show that the motion has the structure of very stable hexagonal cells at applied voltages just above the critical voltage, which are transformed into unstable filaments when the voltage is increased further. At even higher voltages, the motion finally breaks down into turbulence. It may be of interest to point out that, when M < 3, the electric Nusselt number approaches 1, which is equivalent to the situation in thermal convection at low Prandtl numbers.

The stability of flow of a viscous incompressible fluid contained between a stationary outer sphere and rotating inner sphere is studied theoretically and experimentally. Previous theoretical results concerning the basic laminar flow (part 1) are compared with experimental results. Small and large Reynolds number results are compared with Stokes-flow and boundary-layer solutions. The effect of the radius ratio of the two spheres is demonstrated. A linearized theory of stability for the laminar flow is formulated in terms of toroidal and poloidal potentials; the differential equations governing these potentials are integrated numerically. It is found that the flow is subcritically unstable and that the observed instability occurs at a Reynolds number close to the critical value of the energy stability theory. Observations of other flow transitions, at higher values of the Reynolds number, are also described. The character of the stability of the spherical annulus flow is found to be strongly dependent on the radius ratio.

The motion of a slender axisymmetric rod-like particle is investigated theoretically for translation through a quiescent second-order fluid and for rotation in a simple shear flow of the same material. The analysis consists of an asymptotic expansion about the limit of rheologically slow flow, coupled with an application of a generalized form of the reciprocal theorem of Lorentz to calculate the force and torque on the particle. It is shown that an arbitrarily oriented particle with fore-aft symmetry translates, to a first approximation, at the same rate as in an equivalent Newtonian fluid, but that the motion of particles with no fore-aft symmetry may be modified at the same level of approximation. In addition, it is found that freely translating particles with fore-aft symmetry exhibit a single stable orientation with the axis of revolution vertical. In simple shear flow at small and moderate shear rates, the non-Newtonian nature of the suspending fluid causes a drift through Jeffery orbits to the equilibrium orbit C = 0 in which the particle rotates about its axis of revolution. At larger shear rates, the particle aligns itself in the direction of flow and ceases to rotate. Comparison with the available experimental data indicates that the measured rate of orbit drift may be used to determine the second normal stress difference parameter of the second-order fluid model. Finally, in an appendix, some preliminary observations are reported of the motion of slender rod-like particles falling through a quiescent viscoelastic fluid.

An experimental investigation of the instability and the acoustic radiation of the low Reynolds number axisymmetric supersonic jet has been performed. Hot-wire measurements in the flow field and microphone measurements in the acoustic field were obtained from different size jets at Mach numbers of about 2. The Reynolds number ranged from 8000 to 107000, which contrasts with a Reynolds number of 1·3 × 106 for similar jets exhausting into atmospheric pressure.

Hot-wire measurements indicate that the instability process in the perfectly expanded jet consists of numerous discrete frequency modes around a Strouhal number of 0·18. The waves grow almost exponentially and propagate downstream at a supersonic velocity with respect to the surrounding air. Measurements of the wavelength and wave speed of the St = 0·18 oscillation agree closely with Tam's theoretical predictions.

Microphone measurements have shown that the wavelength, wave orientation and frequency of the acoustic radiation generated by the dominant instability agree with the Mach wave concept. The sound pressure levels measured in the low Reynolds number jet extrapolate to values approaching the noise levels measured by other experimenters in high Reynolds number jets. These measurements provide more evidence that the dominant noise generation mechanism in high Reynolds number jets is the large-scale instability.

In this paper we compute the motion and the shape of the free surface on a liquid in a trench heated from its side. The analysis is based on Joseph's Lagrangian theory of domain perturbations, which is developed in general and through simple examples, chosen so as to make the comparison of the Lagrangian method with Stokes's Eulerian theory very clear. The perturbation problems are resolved analytically by application of biorthogonality conditions to a powerful set of biharmonic eigenfunctions.

This paper describes the development of a new technique for removing surface-active contaminants from water so that it may be used for surface-clean experiments in fluid mechanics. The removal of contamination from concentrated aqueous solutions of non-surface-active materials is also possible, allowing considerable variation of density and viscosity in these experiments. Instead of using the conventional distillation processes necessary for most work involving surface chemical phenomena, surface-active substances are removed by adsorption onto a dense current of small nitrogen gas bubbles rising in a long vertical column of the water. The efficiency of the technique was found to increase to a great extent when common salt was dissolved in the water, up to concentrations around 40 g/l, and experiments are described which allow the identification of several physical processes which aid the operation of the method. The adequate performance of the cleaning technique in the removal both of an ionic surface-active material and also of Gentian Violet dye is demonstrated. The method should permit the design of surface-clean experiments using much larger volumes of water than are possible when the water has to be distilled using conventional surface chemical techniques. A simple apparatus for the measurement of surface tension is also described.

In a recent paper (Griffin & Ramberg 1974) the authors studied the vortex-street wakes behind forced vibrating rigid cylinders. All experimental conditions were within the regime of wake capture or synchronization between the vibration and vortex frequencies. Both mean and fluctuating velocities in the wake together with the length of the vortex formation region were measured as functions of vibration amplitude and frequency at a Reynolds number of 144. The viscous vortex strength, age and spacing at this Reynolds number were then obtained by matching a model for the vortex street with the mean and r.m.s. velocity profiles obtained from hot-wire measurements. These results are employed here to determine the steady drag force on the vibrating cylinder by means of the von Kármán drag formulation. The drag coefficients determined in this way are in agreement with the recently published direct force measurements of Tanida, Okajima & Watanabe (1973) and Griffin, Skop & Koopmann (1973) at Reynolds numbers of 80, 500-900 and 4000. From these results a direct relation is drawn between the increased drag on resonantly vibrating structures and changes in the vortex strength, spacing and formation in their wakes.

In a transonic nozzle flow in which the velocity is slightly supersonic in some neighbourhood of the nozzle throat, a shock wave may be present either very close to the throat or else somewhat further downstream. In the latter case, relatively simple series solutions in general provide an asymptotic description of the fluid motion except very close to the shock wave. These outer solutions are reviewed for symmetric two-dimensional flow, and it is shown that the shock-wave jump conditions are not satisfied. A correction is then derived in the form of an inner solution for a small region immediately behind the shock. The resulting solution exhibits the singularities in the pressure gradient, streamline curvature and shock-wave curvature which are expected to occur at the intersection of a normal shock wave and a curved wall. An extension to axisymmetric flow is also given.

A model for collective movement and pattern formation in layered suspensions of negatively geotactic micro-organisms is presented. The motility of the organism is described by an average upward swimming speed U and a diffusivity tensor D. It is shown that the equilibrium suspension is unstable to infinitesimal perturbations when either the layer depth or the mean concentration of the organisms exceeds a critical value. For deep layers the maximum growth rate determines a preferred pattern size explicitly in terms of U and D. The results are compared with observations of patterns formed by the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis.

This paper is a theoretical investigation of the stable laminar decay of a fully established channel or pipe flow following a sudden blockage such as would be caused by the rapid closure of a valve or imposition of an end wall or gate. The development of the subsequent velocity and pressure fields is examined from the instant the initial pressure wave passes until the final decay of all motion. Three time scales of hydrodynamic interest are identified and the relevant solutions are obtained. The time scales are as follows: (i) a very short time characteristic of the passage of the pressure wave during which the velocity field adjusts inviscidly to the new boundary conditions imposed by the presence of the end wall, (ii) a short diffusion time during which the displacement interaction generated by the diffusion of the primary Rayleigh layer induces a substantial secondary motion with distinct side-wall boundary layers and an inviscid core and (iii) a long diffusion time during which the boundary layers fill the entire channel or pipe and the residual motion then dies out. The secondary flow for short diffusion times is of special interest in that it is an example of an unsteady boundary layer where the external pressure gradient and inviscid outer flow are unknown and determined by the integrated time history of the combined mass flow displacement generated by the primary- and secondary-flow boundary layers. The paper closes with some preliminary comments and experimental observations on decelerating pipe flows.

An experimental investigation of the fluid mechanics of the transpired turbulent boundary layer in zero and adverse pressure gradients was carried out on the Stanford Heat and Mass Transfer Apparatus. Profiles of (a) the mean velocity, (b) the intensities of the three components of the turbulent velocity fluctuations and (c) the Reynolds stress were obtained by hot-wire anemometry. The wall shear stress was measured by using an integrated form of the boundary-layer equation to ‘extrapolate’ the measured shear-stress profiles to the wall.

The two experimental adverse pressure gradients corresponded to free-stream velocity distributions of the type u∞ ∞ xm, where m = −0·15 and −0·20, x being the streamwise co-ordinate. Equilibrium boundary layers (i.e. flows with velocity defect profile similarity) were obtained when the transpiration velocity v0 was varied such that the blowing parameter B = pv0u∞/τ0 and the Clauser pressure-gradient parameter $\beta\equiv\delta_1\tau_0^{-1}\,dp/dx $ were held constant. (τ0 is the shear stress at the wall and δ1 is the displacement thickness.)

Tabular and graphical results are presented.

The method of characteristics is used to calculate the supersonic flow past a wedge of small angle with non-equilibrium effects. The wave decay and development distances are presented in a concise similarity form which permits accurate extrapolation to very weak waves. The numerical solutions are compared with shock-tube flows of CO2 and N2O.

Measurements have been made of the vertical velocity and simultaneous temperature fluctuation at fixed points in turbulent, statistically steady convection in water over an ice surface. Convection was confined to a horizontal layer of constant depth that lay under a stably stratified layer. Measurements of vertical velocities less than 1 mm/s were accomplished using a laser-Doppler velocimeter with a frequency-shifted reference beam. Vertical profiles of all relevant one-point moments, including joint temperature-velocity moments, up to third order were obtained. In the stable layer internal gravity waves were observed, and certain aspects of their behaviour were found to agree with existing theoretical analyses. Typical r.m.s. values of the temperature and velocity fluctuations were nearly equal to the appropriate ‘convection’ scales in the convection layer while in the conduction layer immediately above the ice surface they were more nearly equal to the ‘molecular’ scales. All of the observations were consistent with the existence of buoyant plume-like masses which dominated the structure of the flow. An analysis of the data using a conditional averaging technique to determine the mean properties of these masses showed that below the stable layer they accounted for over 80% of the mean-square fluctuations in temperature and velocity.

The method of characteristics is used to calculate the flow ahead of an impulsively started piston moving at constant velocity. Particular attention is paid to the development of weak shock waves which are either fully or partly dispersed at very large distances from the piston. It is found that the global features of the flows may be represented in similarity form, and the graphs obtained allow extrapolation to very weak waves.

A viscous incompressible stably stratified fluid with a buoyancy frequency which varies slowly with altitude is considered. A simple harmonic localized disturbance generates an internal wave in which the energy propagates along curved paths. Small amplitude similarity solutions are obtained for two-dimensional and axisymmetric waves. It is found that under certain conditions the wave amplitude can increase with height. The two-dimensional theory compares quite well with experimental measurements.

The problem of determining the slow viscous flow of an unbounded fluid past a single solid particle is formulated exactly as a system of linear integral equations of the first kind for a distribution of Stokeslets over the particle surface. The unknown density of Stokeslets is identical with the surface-stress force and can be obtained numerically by reducing the integral equations to a system of linear algebraic equations. This appears to be an efficient way of determining solutions for several external flows past a particle, since it requires that the matrix of the algebraic system be inverted only once for a given particle.

The technique was tested successfully against the analytic solutions for spheroids in uniform and simple shear flows, and was then applied to two problems involving the motion of finite circular cylinders: (i) a cylinder translating parallel to its axis, for which the local stress force distribution and the drag were determined; and (ii) the equivalent axis ratio of a freely suspended cylinder, which was calculated by determining the couple on a stationary cylinder placed symmetrically in two different simple shear flows. The numerical results were found to be consistent with the asymptotic analysis of Cox (1970, 1971) and in excellent agreement with the experiments of Anczurowski & Mason (1968), but not with those of Harris & Pittman (1975).

A Galerkin method is proposed for a class of boundary-layer flow problems. In this method, the assumed solution is composed of an auxiliary function and a series solution. The representing functions used in the series solution are orthonormal eigenfunctions, closely related to that of the boundary-layer equation, and are independent of the initial condition, as well as the boundary conditions. The reduced system of stiff, first-order, nonlinear, ordinary differential equations then has diagonal dominance for the first part of the flow region. The proposed method has been tested on two representative flows. Numerical experiments show that highly accurate results can be obtained for the entire boundary-layer flow region, if the auxiliary function satisfying the initial and boundary conditions is chosen to satisfy the first compatibility condition of the upstream flow region. In fact the computation is rather simple, and the numerical integration of the reduced initial-value problem can be carried out up to separation with a fairly large step.

The linearized theory of free-surface gravity flow past submerged or floating bodies is based on a perturbation expansion of the velocity potential in the slenderness parameter e with the Froude number F kept fixed. It is shown that, although the free-wave amplitude and the associated wave resistance tend to zero as F → 0, the linearized solution is not uniform in this limit: the ratio between the second- and first-order terms becomes unbounded as F → 0 with ε fixed. This non-uniformity (called ‘the second Froude number paradox’ in previous work) is related to the nonlinearity of the free-surface condition. Criteria for uniformity of the thin-body expansion, combining ε and F, are derived for two-dimensional flows. These criteria depend on the shape of the leading (and trailing) edge: as the shape becomes finer the linearized solution becomes valid for smaller F.

Uniform first-order approximations for two-dimensional flow past submerged bodies are derived with the aid of the method of co-ordinate straining. The straining leads to an apparent displacement of the most singular points of the body contour (the leading and trailing edges for a smooth shape) and, therefore, to an apparent change in the effective Froude number.

The propagation of waves in an inviscid, electrically conducting fluid is considered. The fluid rotates with angular velocity Ω* and is permeated by a magnetic field b* which varies on the length scale L = Ql, where Q = Ω*l2/λ (l is the length scale of the waves, λ is the magnetic diffusivity) is assumed large (Q [Gt ] 1). A linearized theory is readily justified in the limit of zero Rossby number R0 (= U0/Ω*l, where U0 is a typical fluid velocity) and for this case it is shown that the total wave energy of a wave train is conserved and transported at the group velocity except for that which is lost by ohmic dissipation. The analysis is extended to encompass the propagation of a sea of random waves.

A hydromagnetic dynamo model is considered in which the fluid is confined between two horizontal planes perpendicular to the rotation axis a distance L0(=O(L)) apart. Waves of given low frequency Ω*0 (= O(R0Q½Ω*)) and horizontal wavenumber l−1 but random orientation are excited at the lower boundary, where the kinetic energy density is 2πρU20. The waves are absorbed perfectly at the upper boundary, so that there is no reflexion. The linear wave energy equation remains valid in the double limit 1 [Gt ] R0Q½[Gt ]Q−½, for which it is shown that dynamo action is possible provided $\Delta = L_0U^2_0/l^3\omega_0^{*2} > 1 $. When dynamo action maintains a weak magnetic field (Δ −1 [Lt ] 1) which only slightly modifies the inertial waves analytic solutions are obtained. In the case of a strong magnetic field (Δ [Gt ] 1) for which Coriolis and Lorentz forces are comparable solutions are obtained numerically. The latter class includes the more realistic case (Δ → ∞) in which the upper boundary is absent.

Numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are presented for two-dimensional viscous flow past semicircular and semielliptical projections attached to a plane wall on which a laminar boundary layer has developed. Since the major axis is in the direction normal to the wall and is chosen to be twenty times as long as the minor axis in the present case, the flow around the semielliptical projection will approximately correspond to that around a normal flat plate. It is assumed that the height of each obstacle is so small in comparison with the local boundary-layer thickness that the approaching flow can be approximated by a uniform shear flow. Numerical solutions are obtained for the range 0·1-100 of the Reynolds number, which is defined in terms of the undisturbed approaching velocity at the top of the obstacle and its height. The geometrical shapes of the front and rear standing vortices, the drag coefficients and the pressure and shear-stress distributions are presented as functions of the Reynolds number. The computed results are discussed in connexion with the data already obtained in the other theoretical solutions and an experimental observation.