The properties of high frequency capillary waves generated by steep gravity waves on deep water have been measured with a high resolution laser optical slope gauge. The results have been compared with the steady theory of Longuet-Higgins (1963). Good qualitative agreement is obtained. However, the quantitative predictions of the capillary wave slopes cannot be verified by the data because the theory requires knowledge of an idealized quantity - the crest curvature of the gravity wave in the absence of surface tension - which cannot be measured experimentally.

A variational principle is presented which characterizes steady motions, at finite Rossby number, of rotating inviscid homogeneous fluids in which horizontal velocities are independent of depth. This is used to construct nonlinear solutions corresponding to stationary patches of distributed vorticity above topography of finite height in a uniform stream. Numerical results are presented for the specific case of a right circular cylinder and are interpreted using a series expansion, derived by analogy with a deformable self-gravitating body. The results show that below a critical free-stream velocity a trapped circular vortex is present above the cylinder and a smaller patch of more concentrated vorticity, of the opposite sign, maintains a position to the right (looking downstream) of the cylinder. An extension to finite Rossby number and finite obstacle height of Huppert's (1975) criterion for the formation of a Taylor column is presented in an appendix.

Laminar throughflow between finite parallel disks, one stationary and the other rotating, can be characterized by four dimensionless parameters in the general case. But, if the ratio of disk spacing to disk radius is small, an approximate definition of the flow may be made with reference to a single parameter, the Ekman number. The equations of motion and the equation of continuity in this ‘thin-film’ approximation are reduced here to an initial-value problem for nonlinear ordinary differential equations, by a Galerkin-type procedure. Hamming's modified predictor-corrector method is employed subsequently to solve for the stream functions. Radial pressure profiles of this solution are compared with published experimental data. The calculated results may be applied to the design of hydrostatic bearings and face seals.

In the present paper, it is intended to give the elementary solutions of three-dimensional unsteady Oseen flow when unsteady concentrated lift and/or drag is applied in the flow field. It is shown that the pressure fields due to concentrated impulsive lift and/or drag can be represented by an impulsive pressure doublet in the direction of the applied force and the corresponding velocity fields by diffusing free doublets in the direction of the external force that are shed from the location of the force application and convected downstream with otherwise uniform velocity. It is also confirmed that combination of the elementary solutions given in the present paper yields the two-dimensional ones.

This paper presents the results of experiments on plane shock waves refracting at air/SF6 and He/CO2 interfaces. These are called fast-slow gas combinations because the speed of sound in the incident shock gas is greater than that in the transmitting shock gas. Our work was based on a generalization of the von Neumann (1943) classification of shocks into two classes called weak and strong. We introduced two subclasses of each of these, giving in all four groups of phenomena for study. This is possibly an exhaustive list, at least for conditions where the gases are approximately perfect. We present data on all four groups and study various transition conditions both within and across the groups. Our results appear to conflict with a previously reported irregular refraction; in fact we could apparently completely suppress this wave system by attention to our gas purity and boundary conditions. In its place we found a different system which appears to be a new phenomenon. We found another new system which has the appearance of a Mach-reflexion type of refraction but with its shock dispersed into a band of wavelets. It is interesting that the wavelets remain intense enough to induce identifiable vortex sheets in the flow. Finally we found yet another refraction of the Mach-reflexion type which had no detectable vortex sheet emanating from the triple point: such a system was foreshadowed by von Neumann.

The stability of a plane Rossby wave in a homogeneous fluid is considered. When the two-dimensional equation which governs fluid flow on a beta-plane is linearized in the disturbance stream function, a partial differential equation with a periodic coefficient results. Substitution of a solution dictated by the Floquet theory leads to a determinant equation, and it may be shown from its symmetry properties that disturbances to a Rossby wave may be of only two types: (i) neutrally stable modes not necessarily contiguous to a stability boundary and (ii) a pair of temporally unstable waves, one growing and the other decaying.

The determinant is solved numerically for the neutral-stability boundaries and curves of constant disturbance growth rate; two distinct types of instability emerge. The first is the parametric instability, which renders all waves unstable, and is shown to be asymptotic to the classical nonlinear resonant interaction in the limit of vanishing basic-state amplitude. The details of the disturbance frequency bifurcation for zero-amplitude basic-state waves are presented, and calculations for waves with eastward and westward group velocities are made and discussed in the context of Rhines’ (1975) results for waves and turbulence on a beta-plane. In addition, a second type of instability is computed which is separate and distinct from the parametric instability. The very limited evidence presented suggests that this second kind of instability may possess characteristics which are identifiable in part with the shearing of the fluid by the large-amplitude basic state and in part with the overturning of the ambient vorticity gradient.

The two-dimensional steady flow of a non-Newtonian fluid (a dilute polymer solution) is examined. The flow domain is composed of a parallel-walled inflow region, a contraction region in which the walls are rectangular hyperbolae, and a parallel-walled outflow region. The problem is formulated in terms of the vorticity, stream function and appropriate rheological equation of state, i.e. an Oldroyd-type constitutive equation (with no shear-thinning) for the total shear and normal-stress components. Computational results from the numerical solution of the equations are presented. In particular, the molecular extension and pressure distribution along the centre-line are presented as well as contour plots of the different flow variables. The alignment of the molecules with the principal axes of strain rate is shown by a qualitative comparison of the streamwise normal-stress contours with contours of the eigenvalues of the strain-rate matrix.

Using a two-layer fluid model, equations are developed which describe long internal waves propagating along a channel of arbitrary cross-section. Expressions for the phase speed of these waves are derived in terms of geometric properties of the cross-section. When weakly nonlinear effects are balanced by weak dispersion, a Korteweg-de Vries equation is derived to describe the waves. The effects of a slowly varying cross-section are included. Applications of the theory are made to recent observations of internal surges in lakes.

Thermal convection in a fluid contained between two rigid walls with different mean temperatures is considered when either spatially periodic temperatures are prescribed at the walls or surface corrugations exist. The amplitudes of the spatial non-uniformities are assumed to be small, and the wavelength is set equal to the critical wavelength for the onset of Rayleigh-Bénard convection. For values of the mean Rayleigh number below the classical critical value, the mean Nusselt number and the mean flow are found as functions of Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, and modulation amplitude. For values of the Rayleigh number close to the classical critical value, the effects of the non-uniformities are greatly amplified, and the amplitude of convection is then governed by a cubic equation. This equation yields three supercritical states, but only the state linked to a subcritical state is found to be stable.

Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the motion of miscible buoyant fluid parcels in both homogeneous and stratified media, and were complemented with numerical experiments using the model of Orlanski & Ross (1973). Parcel motion in the homogeneous case was found to be shape-preserving, in agreement with the large body of data for such motion. The stratified medium experiments were such that the parcel attained equilibrium positions. It was found that the time for the parcel to reach maximum depth was approximately 0·7 times the buoyancy period, independent of that depth. The subsequent collapse of the parcel and generation of internal gravity waves was observed. Ray-like patterns of waves propagated out from the collapse region, and wave frequencies near 0·7 times the Brunt-Väisälä frequency were predominant. The internal wave energy radiated away from the collapsed parcel was estimated and found to be 20 to 25% of the change in the system potential energy.

In the first part of this paper the nonlinear development of the most unstable mode is numerically studied for a bounded shear layer with a hyperbolic-tangent profile. It is found that the vortex nutation, discovered by Zabusky & Deem (1971) for a jet profile, is a manifestation of strongly coupled oscillations in the vortex amplitude and the phase. In the second part, with the aid of the numerical result we devote ourselves to deriving coupled nonlinear equations that describe the amplitude oscillation, the vortex nutation and the momentum transport. The approximate oscillatory solution for the vortex amplitude and phase in the nonlinear stage is compared with the numerical solution and agreement is found.

The deformation and conditions for breakup of a single slender drop placed symmetrically in a uniaxial extensional flow are examined theoretically. For the case of an inviscid drop in zero-Reynolds-number flow, Buckmaster (1972) showed, using slender-body analysis, that the shape of the drop is given by r≡εR(z)=ε(1−|z|ν)/2ν, where εεγ/Gμl and γ is the interfacial tension, G the strength of the extensional flow, μ the viscosity of the suspending fluid and l the drop half-length; also v = ½P − 1, where P is the unknown constant pressure inside the drop rendered dimensionless with respect to Gμ. By requiring that R be analytic at z = 0, Buckmaster then concluded that v had to be an even integer and thereby obtained a countably infinite set of slender profiles for any (large) value of the flow strength G. In the present work, the expression for R(z) shown above is obtained readily using the method of inner and outer expansions, the method failing when |z|[les ]O(ε) and ν is not an even integer. Thus, in general, a new solution is needed to describe the shape within the ‘singular’ region |z|[les ]O(ε). The requirement that the two solutions match in their domain of overlap then leads to the conclusion that v can be either equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 3. However, a stability analysis reveals that only the solution with v = 2 is stable, and hence a unique shape exists.

Next, drops of low viscosity μi = O(ε2μ) are examined in zero-Reynolds-number flow. Here, again, a unique solution is obtained according to which a steady shape cannot exist if (Gμa/γ) (μi/μ)⅙ > 0·148, where $a \equiv(3V4\pi)^{\frac{1}{3}}$ and V is the volume of the drop. This breakup criterion is identical to that found by Taylor (1964). A similar analysis for the case of an inviscid drop in a flow with non-zero Reynolds number shows that drop breakup will occur if $(G\mu a/\gamma) (\rho a\gamma/\mu^2)^{\frac{1}{5}} > 0.284$, where ρ is the density of the suspending fluid. Finally, when μi = O(ε2μ) and inertial effects are neglected within the drop but retained in the surrounding fluid, the critical value of $(G\mu a/\gamma) (\rho a\gamma/\mu^2)^{\frac{1}{5}}$ required for drop breakup is found as a function of the dimensionless group \[ (\rho a\gamma/\mu^2)^{\frac{1}{5}}(\mu/\mu_i)^{\frac{1}{6}}, \] which depends only on the physical properties of the system and the size of the drop. These last two results are the first which take into account inertial effects in determining the deformation and breakup conditions of a drop placed in a shear field.

It is shown that the wavelets which appear on the inertial wave form of the inner free surface of a fully spun-up cylindrical mass of liquid contained in a vertical, rapidly rotating and gyrating gyrostat are capillary waves. It is further shown that the interaction between these capillary waves and the excited inertial waves is not the mechanism which effects an observed two-period collapse (‘breakdown’) and reappearance of the free-surface inertial wave form. Rather, the two-period breakdown can be explained by the conjecture that it is a beat phenomenon arising from the interaction of two differently structured inertial wave modes, which have the same frequency at small amplitudes of oscillation of the gyrostat but which, owing to the dependence of the inertial mode frequency on the amplitude of the gyrostatic motion, have slightly different frequencies at larger amplitudes of oscillation of the gyrostat.

The flow of a fluid in a narrow spherical annulus is considered. When the outer sphere remains fixed and the angular velocity of the inner one is increased beyond a critical value an instability resembling Taylor vortices appears. This instability is investigated by expanding the solution in powers of the small parameter ε, the ratio of the gap thickness to the radius, and assuming that two length scales, O(1) and O(ε), are important in the latitudinal direction.

The perturbation then takes the form of cells which are of roughly square cross-section, at least near the equator, but whose amplitude decays rapidly with latitude; it is also subject to a slow spatial modulation. The critical value of the Taylor number at which the instability first appears is shown to be that for infinite concentric cylinders plus a correction O(ε) due to secondary motions and a correction not greater than O(ε) due to the domain being bounded.

The problem of heat transfer (or mass transfer at low transfer rates) to a strip of finite length in a uniform shear flow is considered. For small values of the Péclet number (based on wall shear rate and strip length), diffusion in the flow direction cannot be neglected as in the classical Leveque solution. The mathematical problem is solved by the method of matched asymptotic expansions and expressions for the local and overall dimensionless heat-transfer rate from the strip are found. Experimental data on wall mass-transfer rates in a tube at small Péclet numbers have been obtained by the well-known limiting-current method using potassium ferrocyanide and potassium ferricyanide in sodium hydroxide solution. The Schmidt number is large, so that a uniform shear flow can be assumed near the wall. Experimental results are compared with our theoretical predictions and the work of others, and the agreement is found to be excellent.

Natural modes of oscillation of a vanishingly thin spherical rotating fluid shell, with frequencies σ less than twice the angular velocity Ω, were found by Haurwitz (1940). Their validity is, however, put in question by the presence of a singularity at critical co-latitudes θc: 2Ω cosθc = σ in the O(ε) term of an expansion in the relative shell thickness ε (Stewartson & Rickard 1969). The problem is investigated here by considering the evolution of flow from a specified initial distribution. The principal features are as follows:

(i) The O(1) natural modes of Haurwitz, decaying on a time scale Ω−1ε−2.

(ii) Corrections to (i), regular and of magnitude O(ε) except near critical latitudes.

(iii) Essentially transient inertial waves of magnitude O(ε).

(iv) Inertial waves of magnitude O(ε½) with the natural-mode frequencies σ and generated by (i) at critical latitudes.

On a time scale Ω−1ε−1, (iii) and (iv) develop vertical and horizontal length scales ε and propagate throughout the ocean. The continuing energy transfer from (i) to (iv), at a rate O(ε2Ω), appears to be the principal respect in which (i) and (ii) fail to constitute a conventional normal mode.

In two recent papers Itoh has developed a finite amplitude stability theory which indicates that nonlinearity increases the damping rate of a small but finite amplitude disturbance to flow in a circular pipe when the disturbance is concentrated near the axis of the pipe. For such a centre mode, which is the only mode considered by Itoh, Davey & Nguyen found, in an earlier paper, the opposite result that nonlinearity decreases the damping rate. We examine the reasons for this discrepancy and we explain the subtle difference between Itoh's method and the method of Reynolds & Potter, which was used by Davey & Nguyen.

We suggest that for the centre mode of pipe flow neither Itoh's result nor Davey & Nguyen's result is a reliable guide to the true situation. However, for the wall mode of pipe flow, and especially for plane Couette flow, both methods give very similar results and we suggest that this similarity indicates that in these cases the damping rate is decreased by nonlinearity. For a particular problem we believe that it is only when the results of the two methods are very similar that either method is likely to be useful.

Two similar problems are considered: what is the effect of applying a uniform and constant rate of strain (i) to the two-dimensional thermal mixing region in a homogeneous grid-generated turbulent field, and (ii) to the two-dimensional velocity mixing region formed between two uniform streams moving with different mean velocities? The imposed strain field is orientated so as to compress or separate the isothermal and isokinetic surfaces in the plane of interest.

Two theoretical models are presented; in the first, the profiles of temperature and velocity are assumed to be self-preserving and an assumption is made about the velocity scales; in the second, the statistical, rapid-distortion approach to dispersion due to Hunt & Mulhearn (1973) is applied. The circumstances in which these models differ and those where the simpler self-preserving model can be applied are determined. The measurements presented here indicate that the widths of both mixing layers decrease within the strain field, the width of the thermal mixing layer decreasing at a greater rate than that of the velocity mixing layer. However, the measured length scales were found to be 5% larger than the scales predicted by either of the analyses, which differed from each other by 5%. It is suggested that selective amplification of the energy-containing eddies by the strain field is responsible.

The existence of universal similarity of the fine-scale structure of turbulent velocity fields and the validity of the original Kolmogorov local similarity theory and the later reformulations were investigated. Recent studies of the fine-scale velocity field for many different flows, e.g. grid flows, wakes, jets and the atmospheric boundary layer, are shown to provide considerable evidence for the existence of Kolmogorov normalized spectral shapes which are universal in the sense that they describe the high wave-number spectral behaviour of all turbulent flow fields with a similar value of the turbulence Reynolds number Rλ. The normalized spectral shapes vary with Rλ in a manner consistent with the later reformulations. The Reynolds number dependence of the normalized spectra is demonstrated for the Rλ range from about 40 to 13 000. Expressions for the Kolmogorov normalized spectral functions are presented for three values of Rλ. Also revealed in this study is the importance of considering effects on spectra caused by deviations from Taylor's approximation in high intensity turbulent flows. Lumley's (1965) model is used to correct the high frequency portion of the measured one-dimensional spectra for these effects. An analytical solution to Lumley's expression is presented and applied to the data.

In a previous paper (Booker 1976) we found experimentally that the convective heat transport in a fluid with temperature-dependent viscosity decreased significantly as the ratio of the viscosities at the top and bottom boundaries increased. In this note, we show that this decrease in heat transport can be entirely accounted for by an increase in the critical Rayleigh number with variable viscosity.