The stably stratified Taylor–Couette flow is investigated experimentally and numerically through linear stability analysis. In the experiments, the stability threshold and flow regimes have been mapped over the ranges of outer and inner Reynolds numbers: $-2000<Re_{o}<2000$ and $0<Re_{i}<3000$, for the radius ratio $r_{i}/r_{o}=0.9$ and the Brunt–Väisälä frequency $N\approx 3.2~\text{rad}~\text{s}^{-1}$. The corresponding Froude numbers $F_{o}$ and $F_{i}$ are always much smaller than unity. Depending on $Re_{o}$ (or equivalently on the angular velocity ratio $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}=\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}_{o}/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}_{i}$), three different regimes have been identified above instability onset: a weakly non-axisymmetric mode with low azimuthal wavenumber $m=O(1)$ is observed for $Re_{o}<0$ ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}<0$), a highly non-axisymmetric mode with $m\sim 12$ occurs for $Re_{o}>840$ ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}>0.57$) while both modes are present simultaneously in the lower and upper parts of the flow for $0\leqslant Re_{o}\leqslant 840$ ($0\leqslant \unicode[STIX]{x1D707}\leqslant 0.57$). The destabilization of these primary modes and the transition to turbulence as $Re_{i}$ increases have been also studied. The linear stability analysis proves that the weakly non-axisymmetric mode is due to the centrifugal instability while the highly non-axisymmetric mode comes from the strato-rotational instability. These two instabilities can be clearly distinguished because of their distinct dominant azimuthal wavenumber and frequency, in agreement with the recent results of Park et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 822, 2017, pp. 80–108). The stability threshold and the characteristics of the primary modes observed in the experiments are in very good agreement with the numerical predictions. Moreover, we show that the centrifugal and strato-rotational instabilities are observed simultaneously for $0\leqslant Re_{o}\leqslant 840$ in the lower and upper parts of the flow, respectively, because of the variations of the local Reynolds numbers along the vertical due to the salinity gradient.

The problem described by the title is investigated when the magnetic field is uniform and parallel to the velocity on the two sides of a surface of discontinuity of velocity in an electrically conducting inviscid fluid. The secular equation depends on two parameters β and N, where β is the ratio of magnetic Reynolds number to dimensionless wave number and N is the ratio of the magnetic to the kinetic energy of the fluid. It is found that the flow is unstable for all values of β and N.

The linear stability threshold of the Rayleigh–Bénard configuration is analysed with compressible effects taken into account. It is assumed that the fluid under investigation obeys a Newtonian rheology and Fourier’s law of thermal transport with constant, uniform (dynamic) viscosity and thermal conductivity in a uniform gravity field. Top and bottom boundaries are maintained at different constant temperatures and we consider here mechanical boundary conditions of zero tangential stress and impermeable walls. Under these conditions, and with the Boussinesq approximation, Rayleigh (Phil. Mag., vol. 32 (192), 1916, pp. 529–546) first obtained analytically the critical value $27\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}^{4}/4$ for a dimensionless parameter, now known as the Rayleigh number, at the onset of convection. This paper describes the changes of the critical Rayleigh number due to the compressibility of the fluid, measured by the dimensionless dissipation parameter ${\mathcal{D}}$ and due to a finite temperature difference between the hot and cold boundaries, measured by a dimensionless temperature gradient $a$ . Different equations of state are examined: ideal gas equation, Murnaghan’s model (often used to describe the interiors of solid but convective planets) and a generic equation of state with adjustable parameters, which can represent any possible equation of state. In the perspective to assess approximations often made in convective models, we also consider two variations of this stability analysis. In a so-called quasi-Boussinesq model, we consider that density perturbations are solely due to temperature perturbations. In a so-called quasi-anelastic liquid approximation model, we consider that entropy perturbations are solely due to temperature perturbations. In addition to the numerical Chebyshev-based stability analysis, an analytical approximation is obtained when temperature fluctuations are written as a combination of only two modes, one being the original symmetrical (between top and bottom) mode introduced by Rayleigh, the other one being antisymmetrical. The analytical solution allows us to show that the antisymmetrical part of the critical eigenmode increases linearly with the parameters $a$ and ${\mathcal{D}}$ , while the superadiabatic critical Rayleigh number departs quadratically in $a$ and ${\mathcal{D}}$ from $27\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}^{4}/4$ . For any arbitrary equation of state, the coefficients of the quadratic departure are determined analytically from the coefficients of the expansion of density up to degree three in terms of pressure and temperature.

Gans' criterion is shown to be valid for all inviscid non-diffusive flows where the radial velocity is everywhere zero and the physical variables are functions of the radial distance only. That is, a modified form of the Miles-Howard theorem holds for a large class of helical gas flows.

Euromech 60 is the third in a series of European Mechanics Colloquia dealing primarily with three-dimensional turbulent boundary layers. The Colloquium was held in Trondheim at the Technical University (NTH) from 14–16 April 1975 with forty-two participants from ten different countries, and was organized by L. N. Persen and T. K. Fanneløp. A total of 23 papers were presented, dealing with both experiments on and predictions of turbulent boundary-layer flows and related topics. Those concerned with the development of prediction methods were challenged by a set of boundary-layer flow problems defined well in advance in order to be calculated prior to the Colloquium. The results show close agreement for some calculated variables and surprisingly large discrepancies in others. A brief account of this exercise is included and it will also be the subject of a special report.

This study contributes to the theory of amplitude vacillation for finite amplitude baroclinic waves in a two-layer, quasi-geostrophic, zonal flow as worked out by Pedlosky. In a recent paper the author has shown that Pedlosky omitted a certain side-wall boundary condition on the mean zonal flow. The neglect of this boundary condition results in an unspecified energy source at the side-wall boundaries and the physical problem is incorrectly posed.

In this paper, Pedlosky's analysis is repeated but with the side-wall boundary condition included. It is shown that the side-wall energy source is negligible only when the zonal wavenumber of the disturbance is large compared with the meridional wavenumber, and not otherwise. Moreover, the energy conversions to and from mean zonal kinetic energy corresponding to Pedlosky's calculations and those given here have essential differences, although for fixed meridional wavenumber, these differences become less pronounced as the zonal wavenumber increases.

It is also shown that, when the side-wall condition is included, the mean flow distortion associated with the wave is different in structure to that which occurs when the condition is omitted. However, as the total disturbance wavenumber a increases, the influence of the side wall on the mean flow structure is confined to a boundary layer of width comparable with the internal deformation radius 2½a−1.

Even when the deformation radius is comparable with the channel width, the conclusions of Pedlosky (1972) concerning the existence of stable periodic solutions are correct, providing viscous effects are vanishingly small, and the criteria for stability of the steady solutions obtained herein are not significantly different from those given by Pedlosky. In this viscous regime, we have also studied the evolution to limit-cycle solutions.

Evolution in the case where viscous effects are small on the time scale for the initial growth of an incipient wave, but not vanishingly small, will be discussed in a subsequent paper.

Laboratory experiments have been performed on resonantly forced interfacial waves in a circular cylindrical basin containing a two-layer stratified fluid. The results of this shallow-water study exhibit a number of similarities to previous shallow-water studies performed in single-layer fluids, such as the generation of a large-amplitude response over a frequency bandwidth offset from the primary resonance, generation of a swirling mode at the observed resonant condition, and the significant contribution of higher harmonics. The two-layer experiments also produce results that are unique to stratified domains. In particular, the observed negative nonlinearity of the resonant condition at shallow water depth, mixing of the density interface resulting in detuning the forced response from the resonant condition, the enhanced role of viscous dissipation, and an alternative pathway for the nonlinear generation of higher-frequency waves when the layer depths are disparate. The results of this study are considered with regard to their implications for enclosed basins at the geophysical scale that are subject to near resonant forcing.

The lift force acting on a slender body of revolution that separates from a thin wing in supersonic flow is analysed using Prandtl–Glauert linearized theory, scattering theory and asymptotic methods. It is shown that this lift is associated with multi-scattering of the wing-induced shock wave by the body surface. The local and global lift coefficients are obtained in simple analytical forms. It is shown that the total lift is mainly induced by the first scattering. Contributions from second, third and higher scatterings are zero in the leading-order approximation. This greatly simplifies calculations of the lift force. The theoretical solution for the flow field is compared with numerical solutions of three-dimensional Euler equations and experimental data at free-stream Mach number 2. There is agreement between the theory and the computations for a wide range of shock-wave strength, demonstrating high elasticity of the leading-order asymptotic approximation. Theoretical and experimental distributions of the cross-sectional normal force coefficient agree satisfactorily, showing robustness of the analytical solution. This solution can be applied to the moderate supersonic (Mach numbers from 1.2 to 3) multi-body interaction problem for crosschecking with other computational or engineering methods.

In a previous paper, We have recently that if the Reynolds number is sufficiently large, all trailing vortices with non-zero rotation rate and non-constant axial velocity become linearly unstable with respect to a class of viscous centre modes. We provided an asymptotic description of these modes which applies away from the neutral curves in the (q, k)-plane, where q is the swirl number which compares the azimuthal and axial velocities, and k is the axial wavenumber. In this paper, we complete the asymptotic description of these modes for general vortex flows by considering the vicinity of the neutral curves. Five different regions of the neutral curves are successively considered. In each region, the stability equations are reduced to a generic form which is solved numerically. The study permits us to predict the location of all branches of the neutral curve (except for a portion of the upper neutral curve where it is shown that near-neutral modes are not centre modes). We also show that four other families of centre modes exist in the vicinity of the neutral curves. Two of them are viscous damped modes and were also previously described. The third family corresponds to stable modes of an inviscid nature which exist outside of the unstable region. The modes of the fourth family are also of an inviscid nature, but their structure is singular owing to the presence of a critical point. These modes are unstable, but much less amplified than unstable viscous centre modes. It is observed that in all the regions of the neutral curve, the five families of centre modes exchange their identity in a very intricate way. For the q vortex model, the asymptotic results are compared to numerical results, and a good agreement is demonstrated for all the regions of the neutral curve. Finally, the case of ‘pure vortices’ without axial flow is also considered in a similar way. In this case, centre modes exist only in the long-wave limit, and are always stable. A comparison with numerical results is performed for the Lamb–Oseen vortex.

Background rotation causes different flow structures and heat transfer efficiencies in Rayleigh–Bénard convection. Three main regimes are known: rotation unaffected, rotation affected and rotation dominated. It has been shown that the transition between rotation-unaffected and rotation-affected regimes is driven by the boundary layers. However, the physics behind the transition between rotation-affected and rotation-dominated regimes are still unresolved. In this study, we employ the experimentally obtained Lagrangian velocity and acceleration statistics of neutrally buoyant immersed particles to study the rotation-affected and rotation-dominated regimes and the transition between them. We have found that the transition to the rotation-dominated regime coincides with three phenomena; suppressed vertical motions, strong penetration of vortical plumes deep into the bulk and reduced interaction of vortical plumes with their surroundings. The first two phenomena are used as confirmations for the available hypotheses on the transition to the rotation-dominated regime while the last phenomenon is a new argument to describe the regime transition. These findings allow us to better understand the rotation-dominated regime and the transition to this regime.

The spatial distribution of uniformly sized spheres falling in a viscous liquid is investigated experimentally for a solid volume fraction of 0·025 and a single sphere Reynolds number of 0·6. The observed spatial distribution agrees closely with a random distribution based on allocation of spheres to space cells according to a binomial probability mechanism.

The dependence of spin-up in a rectangular tank on deformation of the free surface is investigated experimentally. The results agree with earlier experimental and numerical data about the motion of vortices over topography. However, the presence of sidewalls appears to interact with the vortex drift induced by the surface topography. This combined effect provides a qualitative explanation for the observed behaviour of individual vortices. In particular, in the presence of free-surface deformation, cyclonic vortices in an elongated rectangle tend to drift away from the centre of the tank, so that their merging in the centre is discouraged.

We investigate numerically, in spherical geometry, the interaction of stratification with precession. Both stable stratification and unstable stratification are studied. In the parameter regime we are concerned with, stable stratification suppresses the precessional instability, whereas unstable stratification and precession can either stabilize or destabilize each other at different precession rates.

The flow transformation and the generation of vortex structures by a strong magnetic dipole field in a liquid metal duct flow is studied by means of three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. The dipole is considered as the paradigm for a magnetic obstacle which will deviate the streamlines due to Lorentz forces acting on the fluid elements. The duct is of square cross-section. The dipole is located above the top wall and is centred in spanwise direction. Our model uses the quasistatic approximation which is applicable in the limit of small magnetic Reynolds numbers. The analysis covers the stationary flow regime at small hydrodynamic Reynolds numbers $\mathit{Re}$ as well as the transitional time-dependent regime at higher values which may generate a turbulent flow in the wake of the magnetic obstacle. We present a systematic study of these two basic flow regimes and their dependence on $\mathit{Re}$ and on the Hartmann number $\mathit{Ha}$, a measure of the strength of the magnetic dipole field. Furthermore, three orientations of the dipole are compared: streamwise-, spanwise- and wall-normal-oriented dipole axes. The most efficient generation of turbulence at a fixed distance above the duct follows for the spanwise orientation, which is caused by a certain configuration of Hartmann layers and reversed flow at the top plate. The enstrophy in the turbulent wake grows linearly with $\mathit{Ha}$ which is connected with a dominance of the wall-normal derivative of the streamwise velocity.

A theory is developed for the incompressible flow of a fluid with high electrical conductivity about thin cylinders (airfoils) in non-uniform motion. A uniform magnetic field is applied parallel to the free stream and solutions are obtained subject to the restriction of small perturbations. The effects of viscosity are included, for the most part, only through the use of the Kutta condition, where applicable, for lifting airfoils. The validity and range of applicability of the infinite-conductivity assumption are determined on the basis of an order-of-magnitude analysis; the general character of the flow is discussed at length.

The flow-field for infinite conductivity is changed from the non-magnetic case only through the new transport speed of vorticity; the forces on the airfoil are changed due to surface currents. For the case of the Alfvén speed less than the free-stream speed, the airfoil lift and pitching moment are given in integral form for general unsteady-airfoil motion and are given in closed form for harmonic ocsillations. The forces at moderate frequencies may be larger than in the corresponding non-magnetic case. The response to a unit-step change in the downwash is studied and the asymptotic form of the lift is obtained for small and large time.

For the case of the Alfvén speed greater than the free-stream speed, vorticity and current are shed from both the leading and trailing edges. Therefore the extension of the usual Kutta condition is not obvious. It is shown that if finite viscosity and / or conductivity tend to remove the trailing-edge singularity, the flow is unstable and no steady flow can be obtained.

The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to study the canonical problem of steady laminar flow through a narrow two-dimensional channel blocked by a tight-fitting finite-length highly permeable porous obstacle. We investigate the behaviour of the local flow close to the interface between the single-phase and porous regions (governed by the incompressible Navier–Stokes and Darcy flow equations, respectively). We solve for the flow in these inner regions in the limits of low and high Reynolds number, facilitating an understanding of the nature of the transition from Poiseuille to plug to Poiseuille flow in each of these limits. Significant analytical progress is made in the high Reynolds number limit, and we explore in detail the rich boundary layer structure that occurs. We derive general results for the interfacial stress and for the conditions that couple the flow in the outer regions away from the interface. We consider the three-dimensional generalization to unsteady laminar flow through and around a tight-fitting highly permeable cylindrical porous obstacle within a Hele-Shaw cell. For the high Reynolds number limit, we give the coupling conditions and interfacial stress in terms of the outer flow variables, allowing information from a nonlinear three-dimensional problem to be obtained by solving a linear two-dimensional problem. Finally, we illustrate the utility of our analysis by considering the specific example of time-dependent forced far-field flow in a Hele-Shaw cell containing a porous cylinder with a circular cross-section. We determine the internal stress within the porous obstacle, which is key for tissue engineering applications, and the interfacial stress on the boundary of the porous obstacle, which has applications to biofilm erosion. In the high Reynolds number limit, we demonstrate that the fluid inertia can result in the cylinder experiencing a time-independent net force, even when the far-field forcing is periodic with zero mean.

Two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to examine internal wave reflection at a sloping boundary. Owing to reflection, the reflected wave amplitude and wavenumber increase. At low values of the incoming wave amplitude, the reflected wave beam is linear and its properties agree well with linear inviscid theory. Linear theory overestimates the reflected wave Froude number, $Fr_{r}$, for higher values of incoming wave amplitude. Nonlinearity sets in with increasing value of incoming wave Froude number, $Fr_{i}$, leading to parametric subharmonic instability (PSI) of the reflected wave beam: two subharmonics emerge from the reflection region with frequencies $0.33{\it\Omega}$ and $0.67{\it\Omega}$ and wavenumbers that add up to those of the reflected wave. The amplification of Froude number due to reflection must be sufficiently large for PSI to occur implying that the off-criticality in wave angle cannot be too large. The simulations also show that, all other parameters being fixed, a threshold in beam amplitude is required for the onset of PSI in the reflected beam, consistent with results from a previous weakly-nonlinear asymptotic theory for a freely propagating finite-width beam. Growth rates of subharmonic modes at moderate reflected wave amplitude are in reasonable agreement with that theory. However, for $Fr_{r}>0.5$, small scale fluctuations becomes prominent and the subharmonic energy growth rates saturate in the simulations in contrast to the theoretical prediction. Increasing the incoming beam thickness (number of carrier wavelengths) increases the strength of PSI. Keeping the incoming Froude number constant and increasing the incoming Reynolds number by a factor of 50 does not have an effect on the unequal division of frequencies among the subharmonic modes that is found in the simulations.

We analyse small-amplitude oscillations of a weakly viscous electrically conducting liquid drop in a strong uniform DC magnetic field. An asymptotic solution is obtained showing that the magnetic field does not affect the shape eigenmodes, which remain the spherical harmonics as in the non-magnetic case. A strong magnetic field, however, constrains the liquid flow associated with the oscillations and, thus, reduces the oscillation frequencies by increasing effective inertia of the liquid. In such a field, liquid oscillates in a two-dimensional (2D) way as solid columns aligned with the field. Two types of oscillations are possible: longitudinal and transversal to the field. Such oscillations are weakly damped by a strong magnetic field – the stronger the field, the weaker the damping, except for the axisymmetric transversal and inherently 2D modes. The former are overdamped because of being incompatible with the incompressibility constraint, whereas the latter are not affected at all because of being naturally invariant along the field. Since the magnetic damping for all other modes decreases inversely with the square of the field strength, viscous damping may become important in a sufficiently strong magnetic field. The viscous damping is found analytically by a simple energy dissipation approach which is shown for the longitudinal modes to be equivalent to a much more complicated eigenvalue perturbation technique. This study provides a theoretical basis for the development of new measurement methods of surface tension, viscosity and the electrical conductivity of liquid metals using the oscillating drop technique in a strong superimposed DC magnetic field.

The two-point theory of homogeneous isotropic turbulence is extended to source terms appearing in the equations for higher-order structure functions. For this, transport equations for these source terms are derived. We focus on the trace of the resulting equations, which is of particular interest because it is invariant and therefore independent of the coordinate system. In the trace of the even-order source term equation, we discover the higher-order moments of the dissipation distribution, and the individual even-order source term equations contain the higher-order moments of the longitudinal, transverse and mixed dissipation distribution functions. This shows for the first time that dissipation fluctuations, on which most of the phenomenological intermittency models are based, are contained in the Navier–Stokes equations. Noticeably, we also find the volume-averaged dissipation $\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{r}$ used by Kolmogorov (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 13, 1962, pp. 82–85) in the resulting system of equations, because it is related to dissipation correlations.

The evolution and decay of a homogeneous flow over random topography in a rotating system is studied by means of numerical simulations and theoretical considerations. The analysis is based on a quasi-two-dimensional shallow-water approximation, in which the horizontal divergence is explicitly different from zero, and topographic variations are not restricted to be much smaller than the mean depth, as in quasi-geostrophic dynamics. The results are examined by comparing the evolution of a turbulent flow over different random bottom topographies characterized by a specific horizontal scale, or equivalently, a given mean slope. As in two-dimensional turbulence, the energy of the flow is transferred towards larger scales of motion; after some rotation periods, however, the process is halted as the flow pattern becomes aligned along the topographic contours with shallow water to the right. The quasi-steady state reached by the flow is characterized by a nearly linear relationship between potential vorticity and transport function in most parts of the domain, which is justified in terms of minimum-enstrophy arguments. It is found that global energy decays faster for topographies with shorter horizontal length scales due to more effective viscous dissipation. In addition, some comparisons between simulations based on the shallow-water and quasi-geostrophic formulations are carried out. The role of solid boundaries is also examined: it is shown that vorticity production at no-slip walls contributes for a slight disorganization of the flow.