Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 October 2012
This is a review of thin-body and slender-body theories, with indications of some new applications. Topics discussed include bodies with near-constant surface pressure, subsonic and supersonic aerodynamics, ship hydrodynamics, slender bodies in Stokes flow, slender footings in elastic media, and slender moonpools. Mathematical features of the thin- and slender-body approximations are also discussed, especially nonlocal convolution terms modelling three-dimensionality in the otherwise two-dimensional near field, end effects, and the role of the logarithm of the slenderness ratio. This review was presented by the first author as the IMA Lighthill Memorial Lecture at the British Applied Mathematics Colloquium (BAMC) 2004.
This is a contribution to the series of invited papers by past ANZIAM medallists (Editorial, issue 52(1)). Ernie Tuck was awarded the 1999 ANZIAM medal and died in 2009.