A modified version of Bateman's variational formulation of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and boundary conditions (see Dryden, Murnaghan & Bateman 1956) is introduced. This is employed to examine a particular nonlinear problem of hydrodynamic stability which was treated previously, using a ‘direct’ approach, by Craik (1971). This problem concerns the resonant interaction at second order of a triad of wave modes in a parallel shear flow.

The present method is conceptually attractive; it also has the major advantage over the ‘direct’ method of a substantial reduction in algebraic complexity, which allows results to be derived far more readily. Also, some further improvements are made upon Craik's previous analysis. Such a variational approach may often be simpler than present conventional methods of tackling nonlinear viscous-flow problems. The present paper shows how other problems of nonlinear stability and wave interactions may be tackled in this way.

Internal waves of the fundamental mode propagating into a shoaling region have been studied experimentally in a continuously stratified fluid. The waves divide into three classes depending upon the ratio of the bottom slope γ to the wave-characteristic slope c. For γ/c < 1, the amplitude and wavenumber changes of the waves over the slope are in reasonable accord with a simple inviscid linear theory, prior to wave breakdown near the intersection of the slope and surface. Considerable mixing occurs in this corner region. When γ/c = 1, a striking instability of the bottom boundary layer is observed and the waves are heavily damped. When γ/c > 1, the waves are inhomogeneous and have complex spatial dependence.

The parametric limit process for Laplace's tidal equations (LTE) is considered, starting from the full equations of motion for a rotating, gravitationally stratified, compressible fluid. The boundary-value problem for free oscillations of angular frequency σ is not well posed if σ2 < N2 + 4ω2, where N is the Väisälä frequency and ω is the rotational speed of the Earth, and the governing partial differential equation is elliptic/hyperbolic on the polar/equatorial sides of the inertial latitudes given by ± σ = f (vertical component of 2ω) if σ < 2ω [Lt ] N. The solution of this ill-posed problem is considered for a global ocean of uniform depth, with the effects of ellipticity, the ‘traditional’ approximation and stratification measured by the small parameters m = ω2a/g, δ = h/a and s = hN2/g (g = acceleration due to gravity, h = depth of ocean, a = radius of Earth). LTE represent the joint limit m, δ, s ↓ 0 and yield bounded solutions for all latitudes. It is argued that the parametric expansion in m is regular. The joint expansion in δ and s with LTE as the basic approximation is singular at the inertial latitudes if σ < 2ω, which difficulty is traced to the failure of LTE to provide an adequate description of the characteristics in the hyperbolic domain. It is shown that an alternative formulation, in which the buoyancy force is retained in the basic equations in the joint limit s↓0, δ↓0 with N [Gt ] 2ω, yields solutions that are uniformly valid in the neighbourhoods of the inertial latitudes. The resulting representation comprises a barotropic mode, which satisfies LTE, and an infinite discrete set of baroclinic modes, each of which has Airy turning points at the inertial latitudes and is trapped between them. The barotropic and baroclinic modes are coupled by the Coriolis acceleration associated with the horizontal component of the Earth's rotation. The relative effects of this coupling are uniformly O(δ) if σ > 2ω, but it induces currents O(δ/s1/4) and vertical displacements O(δ/s3/4) between the inertial latitudes if σ < 2ω [Lt ] N. It appears that resonant amplification of the baroclinic modes forced by the barotropic modes could imply internal displacements that dominate those of the basic motion.

Grant (1973) showed that the expansion giving the profile of a steady Stokes wave near a 120° corner was more complicated than had previously been assumed. This paper gives further terms in such an expansion, and shows that generating them cannot introduce transcendental quantities beyond those noted by Grant.

Employing a linear stability analysis, Dudis (1973) has recently suggested that shear-flow instability might exist within the upper stratosphere of Venus owing to destabilization by radiative transfer. We have incorporated a more realistic formulation for radiative transfer into his stability analysis and conclude that such an instability is unlikely.

The presence of dissipation in an isothermal atmosphere may cause upwardpropagating small amplitude waves to be reflected downward. For an atmosphere with small dynamic viscosity μ this was demonstrated in Yanowitch (1967b); this will be referred to as case II. Here two problems will be investigated: (i) a thermally conducting atmosphere with small conductivity k (case III) and (ii) a viscous and thermally conducting atmosphere with small k and μ, and a small ratio μ/k, i.e. small Prandtl number (case IV). It will be shown that the validity of the model in case III is questionable. The solution for case IV is determined from the conditions that the average rate of energy dissipation and of entropy increase in a column of fluid be finite, but a radiation condition is required in case III. The solution for case III does not approximate the one for case IV uniformly, and the reflexion coefficient for case IV does not tend to the one for case III as the Prandtl number Pr → 0, but varies periodically with log Pr. Numerical results show that when the Prandtl number is not small the reflexion coefficient can be approximated by the asymptotic value obtained from case II.

A theoretical investigation is presented of the electrohydrostatic stability of a given volume of incompressible dielectric fluid when stressed by the application of a potential difference between bounding conducting fluids. It is assumed that the dielectric fluid is located in a channel of breadth 2 a and height 2h, with h/a [Lt ] 1, whose walls are semi-infinite solid dielectric sheets of thickness 2h. The dielectric fluid may have a volume which differs from that of the channel, so that the presence of menisci at the interfaces between conducting and non-conducting fluids is taken into account. By a suitable method for approximating the electric stress at the interfaces, the electrostatic potential difference across the dielectric is determined as a function of the pressure difference across the interfaces for prescribed values of the discrepancy of the volume of the dielectric from the volume of the channel per unit length, and criteria are obtained for determining the critical electric field which precipitates the instability of the system. The variation of the critical electric field with the dimensionless volume excess 2δ is also found and it is shown that, for δ < −0·5, instability is associated with a symmetric mode of disturbance in which the critical field occurs at the maximum in a plot of potential difference vs. pressure difference. For δ > −0·5, instability arises from an asymmetric disturbance with the critical field occurring at a bifurcation point in the potential difference/pressure difference plane. Bifurcations are shown to occur only when the equilibrium profiles of the interfaces have extrema at the edges of the channel.

An experimental investigation has been made of the processes occurring during the natural transition from laminar to turbulent flow of natural convection flow of water adjacent to a flat vertical surface where the surface heat flux is uniform. Measurements of both the velocity and temperature fields were made over wide ranges of the heat flux and at various downstream locations. Of principal interest were the definitions of the boundaries of the transition regime and their determination at several values of the surface heat flux. The interaction of the velocity and temperature fields during transition was measured. Our results show that transition events are not correlated in terms of the Grashof number G*. The form G*/xn, where n is of order ½ was found to give satisfactory correlations. Measurements of the frequency and growth rate of disturbances indicate the primacy of the velocity field during transition and show that the growth of turbulence in the temperature field lags behind that in the velocity field. The study of the turbulence growth, in terms of intermittency factors in both the velocity and temperature fields, resulted in unambiguous criteria for the boundaries of the transition regime. Our results suggest a kinetic energy flux parameter E and a single value closely correlates both our measurements of the onset of transition as well as those from all past studies known to us, for both different fluids and heating conditions.

The stability of natural convective flow in a porous medium heated both uniformly and non-uniformly from below is studied in order to determine the possibility of oscillatory and other unsteady flows, and to explore the conditions under which they may occur. The results of the numerical work are directly comparable with experiments using a Hele Shaw cell and also, in the uniformly heated case, with the results of Combarnous & Le Fur (1969) and Caltagirone, Cloupeau & Combarnous (1971). It is shown that for the uniformly heated problem there exist, in certain cases, two distinct possible modes of flow, one of which is fluctuating, the other being steady. However in the non-uniformly heated case the boundary conditions force the solution into a unique mode of flow which is regularly oscillatory when there is considerable non-uniformity in the heat input at the lower boundary, provided that the Rayleigh number is sufficiently high.

The two-dimensional steady flow of an incompressible viscous fluid past a circular cylinder, placed symmetrically in a simple shear field, has been studied for both the stationary and the freely rotating case by solving numerically the Navier-Stokes equations for values of the Reynolds number R in the range \[ 0.047 \leqslant R \leqslant 70. \] At R = 0·047, the present results are in substantial agreement with the analytic small-R perturbation solution given by Robertson & Acrivos (1970). Inertia effects were found, however, to play a significant role even at R = 1, and hence the calculated flow pattern for R ≥ 1 differs significantly from that of the creeping-flow solution. Specifically, for the freely rotating case, the region of closed streamlines decreases rapidly in extent with increasing R, two symmetrically placed wakes are formed on either side of the cylinder and the dimensionless rotational speed of the freely suspended cylinder decreases as R-½. In fact, for a value of R as low as 70, many of the gross features of the flow are surprisingly similar to those described by an inviscid solution except for the difference in the two sets of pressure profiles and the fact that the numerical results do not as yet exhibit the expected flow separation on the surface of the cylinder.

The steady, uniform, horizontal flow of a vertically stratified, non-diffusive fluid over a sphere is considered. A correction to the Stokes drag formula is obtained which is valid for small values of a stratification parameter α, Re [Lt ] |α| 1/3 and Fr2 [Lt ] |α|−1/3. To the order of the calculations, the sphere has no tendency to rotate, nor does it experience a lift force.

The frictional torque on a dumbbell rotating with time-dependent angular velocity is calculated from the hydrodynamic interaction between the two ends of the dumbbell. This leads to the correlation function for the random torque in rotatory Brownian motion. Although the motion of each dumbbell end has the characteristics of a translational motion, the correlation function at large times decays like t−5/2, as in the case of a solid sphere. The correlation function may be calculated for the limiting case of very small angular displacements. The results for displacements of arbitrary magnitude are the same provided that terms quadratic in the angular velocity are negligible.

This paper studies flagellar undulations that propel a micro-organism at a given speed while minimizing its expenditure of hydrodynamical energy. The study is in two basic parts. The first part is a qualitative inquiry into the general nature of undulations that are hydrodynamically optimal in the instantaneous sense. The results indicate that an apparent sliding of the entire flagellum along its instantaneous axis is fundamental to such motions, although an additional deformation is necessary to compensate for the presence of the organism's head. Periodic or semi-periodic undulations are clearly suggested, and must consist of travelling waves propagated in the direction opposite to propulsion.

The second part of the paper is a quantitative inquiry as to the values of parameters that optimize given periodic wave shapes in the time-average sense. The trade-off between wave amplitude and the number of wavelengths is of particular interest. Results are obtained for small amplitude sinusoidal waves and finite amplitude sawtooth waves. For the latter, a single wavelength with amplitude roughly one-sixth of the wavelength is optimal. The significance of the twitching movements of the head is investigated. The results are consistent with the qualitative study and emphasize the need to inhibit such motions. The implications of the dependence of resistive-force coefficients upon wave shape are considered, and the physical significance of rotational pitching motions is assessed.