The scattering of long water waves by an array of bodies is investigated using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Two particular geometries are considered: a group of vertical cylinders extending throughout the depth and a group of floating hemispheres. From these solutions, the low-frequency limit of the ratio of the mean drift force on a group of N bodies to that on a single body is calculated. For a wide range of circumstances this drift-force ratio is N2, which is in agreement with previous numerical work. Further drift-force enhancement is possible for certain configurations of vertical cylinders.

The radial flow of air between two closely spaced parallel disks is studied experimentally and the behaviour of the flow, especially the turbulence decay mechanism, is examined. At high Reynolds numbers the flow resembles fully developed turbulent two-dimensional channel flow. A quasi-laminar boundary layer is found to gradually replace the viscous sublayer as the Reynolds number decreases. At low Reynolds numbers, the turbulence decays and the flow gradually approaches a laminar-type profile. The decay process is shown to be very slow and indications of a weak turbulence-generating mechanism is observed even at very low Reynolds numbers. Relaminarization, rather than being an abrupt change in the state of the flow, is an eventual outcome of the turbulence decay process.

A novel primitive model is proposed for the hydrodynamic behaviour of an isolated dissolved polymer molecule in a laminar shear flow. The model, in which inertial effects are neglected, allows for rotation and partial stretching of the molcule, but not for bending. Dilute solutions of flexible long-chain polymers have been experimentally observed to exhibit periodic velocity fluctuations distinct from turbulence over a broad frequency range when flowed in high-shear-rate water-table and pipe configurations. In these experiments, the frequency of the fluctuations does not increase with increasing shear rate; rather, it is lowest in the regions of the flow where the shear is the highest. A manifestation of viscous shear thickening has also been observed in these laminar flows. The proposed polymer representation appears capable of accounting for the salient features of these flows with adjustment of a single dimensionless parameter, a ratio of polymer-spring and solvent-viscosity forces.

This is a study of the runup of solitary waves on plane beaches. An approximate theory is presented for non-breaking waves and an asymptotic result is derived for the maximum runup of solitary waves. A series of laboratory experiments is described to support the theory. It is shown that the linear theory predicts the maximum runup satisfactorily, and that the nonlinear theory describes the climb of solitary waves equally well. Different runup regimes are found to exist for the runup of breaking and non-breaking waves. A breaking criterion is derived for determining whether a solitary wave will break as it climbs up a sloping beach, and a different criterion is shown to apply for determining whether a wave will break during rundown. These results are used to explain some of the existing empirical runup relationships.

In this work we prove that the second-kind Fredholm's integral equations proposed by Rallison & Acrivos to solve the deformation and burst of a viscous drop in an extensional flow, with viscosity ratio λ, possess a unique continuous solution u(x) for any continuous datum F(x) when 0 < λ < ∞. In the original work they could only guarantee, analytically, the solvability of the integral equations in a small neighbourhood of λ = 1.

Two problems of the stability of ideal fluid flows over an uneven bottom are considered. The first is the study of stratified flow with a ‘rigid lid’. We use the method of multiple scales to derive an equation describing the evolution of internal waves corresponding to different modes and wave vectors. For the case of sinusoidal bottom irregularities we have constructed a solution describing the increase in time of the internal wave field - this proves the instability of the basic flow. The phenomenon is interpreted as a result of interaction (mutual generation) of internal waves with energies of opposite signs. Our consideration is based on the Hamiltonian approach which enables us to prove in the most simple way the existence of waves carrying negative energy. The case of random (not sinusoidal) bottom irregularities is also studied. Using the kinetic equation for the amplitudes of internal waves derived in the paper, we have established that the basic flow remains unstable as well. In the second part of the paper we consider the homogeneous flows with a free upper boundary. It is shown that this problem can be reduced to the previous one, with the only difference being that the role of unstable perturbations is now played by the surface (not internal) gravity waves. The Hamiltonian approach is consistently applied and allows us to take into account the nonlinearity of waves.

The nature of the boundary layer induced by the motion of a three-dimensional vortex loop towards a plane wall is considered. Initially the vortex is taken to be a ring approaching a plane wall at an angle of attack in an otherwise stagnant fluid; the ring rapidly distorts into a loop shape due to the influence of the wall and the trajectory is computed from a numerical solution of the Biot-Savart integral. As the vortex loop moves, an unsteady boundary-layer flow develops on the wall. A method is described which allows the computation of the flow velocities on and near the symmetry plane of the vortex loop within the boundary layer. The computed results show the development of a variety of complex three-dimensional separation phenomena. Some of the solutions ultimately show strong localized boundary-layer growth and are suggestive that a boundary-layer eruption and a strong viscous-inviscid interaction will be induced by the moving vortex.