This paper is concerned with the small-amplitude unsteady motion of an inviscid non-heat-conducting compressible fluid on a transversely sheared mean flow. It extends previous analyses (Goldstein, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 84, 1978b, pp. 305–329; Goldstein, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 91, 1979a, pp. 601–632), which show that the hydrodynamic component of the motion is determined by two arbitrary convected quantities in the absence of solid surfaces and hydrodynamic instabilities. These results can be used to specify appropriate upstream boundary conditions for unsteady surface interaction problems on transversely sheared mean flows in the same way that the vortical component of the Kovasznay (J. Aero. Sci., vol. 20, 1953, pp. 657–674) decomposition is used to specify these conditions for surface interaction problems on uniform mean flows. But unlike Kovasznay’s result, the arbitrary convected quantities no longer bear a simple relation to the physical variables. A major purpose of this paper is to complete the formalism developed in Goldstein’s earlier two papers by obtaining the necessary relations between these quantities and the measurable flow variables. The results are important because they enable the complete extension of non-homogeneous rapid distortion theory to transversely sheared mean flows. Another purpose of the paper is to derive a generalization of the famous Ffowcs Williams and Hall (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 40, 1970, pp. 657–670) formula for the sound produced by the interaction of turbulence with an edge, which is frequently used as a starting point for predicting sound generation by turbulence–solid surface interactions. We illustrate the utility of this result by using it to calculate the sound radiation produced by the interaction of a two-dimensional jet with the downstream edge of a flat plate.

We employ direct numerical simulation to investigate the efficiency of diapycnal mixing by shear-induced turbulence in stably stratified free shear layers for flows with bulk Richardson numbers in the range $0. 12\leq R{i}_{0} \leq 0. 2$ and Reynolds number $Re= 6000$. We show that mixing efficiency depends non-monotonically upon $R{i}_{0} $, peaking in the range 0.14–0.16, which coincides closely with the range in which both the buoyancy flux and the dissipation rate are maximum. By detailed analyses of the energetics of flow evolution and the underlying dynamics, we show that the existence of high mixing efficiency in the range $0. 14\lt R{i}_{0} \lt 0. 16$ is due to the emergence of a large number of small-scale instabilities which do not exist at lower Richardson numbers and are stabilized at high Richardson numbers. As discussed in Mashayek & Peltier (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 725, 2013, pp. 216–261), the existence of such a well-populated ‘zoo’ of secondary instabilities at intermediate Richardson numbers and the subsequent high mixing efficiency is realized only if the Reynolds number is higher than a critical value which is generally higher than that achievable in laboratory settings, as well as that which was achieved in the majority of previous numerical studies of shear-induced stratified turbulence. We furthermore show that the primary assumptions upon which the widely employed Osborn (J. Phys. Oceanogr. vol. 10, 1980, pp. 83–89) formula is based, as well as its counterparts and derivatives, which relate buoyancy flux to dissipation rate through a (constant) flux coefficient ($\Gamma $), fail at higher Richardson numbers provided that the Reynolds number is sufficiently high. Specifically, we show that the assumptions of fully developed, stationary, and isotropic turbulence all break down at high Richardson numbers. We show that the breakdown of these assumptions occurs most prominently at Richardson numbers above that corresponding to the maximum mixing efficiency, a fact that highlights the importance of the non-monotonicity of the dependence of mixing efficiency upon Richardson number, which we establish to be characteristic of stratified shear-induced turbulence. At high $R{i}_{0} $, the lifecycle of the turbulence is composed of a rapidly growing phase followed by a phase of rapid decay. Throughout the lifecycle, there is considerable exchange of energy between the small-scale turbulence and larger coherent structures which survive the various stages of flow evolution. Since shear instability is one of the most prominent mechanisms for turbulent dissipation of energy at scales below hundreds of metres and at various depths of the ocean, our results have important implications for the inference of turbulent diffusivities on the basis of microstructure measurements in the oceanic environment.

The mobile layer of a granular bed composed of spherical particles is experimentally investigated in a laminar rectangular channel flow. Both particle and fluid velocity profiles are obtained using particle image velocimetry for different index-matched combinations of particles and fluid and for a wide range of fluid flow rates above incipient motion. A full three-dimensional investigation of the flow field inside the mobile layer is also provided. These experimental observations are compared to the predictions of a two-phase continuum model having a frictional rheology to describe particle–particle interactions. Different rheological constitutive laws having increasing degrees of sophistication are tested and discussed.

Plumes due to localized buoyancy sources are of wide interest owing to their prevalence in many situations. This study investigates the transition from laminar to turbulent dynamics. Several experiments have reported that this transition is sensitive to external perturbations. As such, a well-controlled set-up has been chosen for our numerical study, consisting of a localized heat source at the bottom of an enclosed cylinder whose walls are all maintained at a fixed uniform temperature, except for the localized heat source. At moderate Rayleigh numbers $\mathit{Ra}$, the flow consists of a steady, axisymmetric purely poloidal plume. On increasing $\mathit{Ra}$, the flow undergoes a supercritical Hopf bifurcation to an axisymmetric ‘puffing’ plume, where a vortex ring is periodically emitted from the localized heater. At higher $\mathit{Ra}$, this state becomes unstable to a sequence of symmetry-breaking bifurcations, going through a quasi-periodic ‘fluttering’ stage where the axisymmetric rings are tilted, and other states in which the sequence of tilted rings interact with each other. The sequence of symmetry-breaking bifurcations in the transition to turbulence culminates in a torus breakup event in which all the spatial and spatio-temporal symmetries of the system are broken.

The spin-up of a concentrated vortex in a liquid metal cylinder with a free surface is considered experimentally and numerically. The vortex is driven by two flow-independent magnetic body forces. A continuously applied rotating magnetic field provides the source of the angular momentum. A pulse of about one order of magnitude stronger travelling magnetic field drives a converging flow that temporarily focuses this angular momentum towards the axis of the container. A highly concentrated vortex forms that produces a funnel-shaped surface depression. We explore experimentally the duration, the depth and the conditions of formation of this funnel. Additionally, we measure the axial velocity and calculate the axisymmetric flow field of this transient vortex at a lower force magnitude. The spin-up vortex is similar to the corresponding developed time-averaged turbulent vortex driven by the same magnetic forces (Grants et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 616, 2008, pp. 135–152). There are two main differences. First, the maximum swirl concentration condition cannot be expressed as a constant ratio of the two driving forces. Second, a much higher degree of swirl concentration is feasible. We explain these differences as due to a much lower turbulence during the spin-up.

The dynamics of an inverted flag are investigated experimentally in order to find the conditions under which self-excited flapping can occur. In contrast to a typical flag with a fixed leading edge and a free trailing edge, the inverted flag of our study has a free leading edge and a fixed trailing edge. The behaviour of the inverted flag can be classified into three regimes based on its non-dimensional bending stiffness scaled by flow velocity and flag length. Two quasi-steady regimes, straight mode and fully deflected mode, are observed, and a limit-cycle flapping mode with large amplitude appears between the two quasi-steady regimes. Bistable states are found in both straight to flapping mode transition and flapping to deflected mode transition. The effect of mass ratio, relative magnitude of flag inertia and fluid inertia, on the non-dimensional bending stiffness range for flapping is negligible, unlike the instability of the typical flag. Because of the unsteady fluid force, a flapping sheet can produce elastic strain energy several times larger than a sheet of the deformed mode, improving the conversion of fluid kinetic energy to elastic strain energy. According to the analysis of the leading-edge vortex formation process, the time scale of optimal vortex formation correlates with efficient conversion to elastic strain energy during bending.

We examine the dynamics of a thin film flowing under gravity down the exterior of a vertically aligned inner cylinder, with a co-aligned, concentric cylinder acting as an outer electrode; the space between the outer cylinder and the film is occupied by an inviscid gas. The stability of the interface is studied when it is subjected to an electric field, applied by imposing a potential difference between the two cylinders. Leaky-dielectric theory is used in conjunction with asymptotic reduction, in the large-conductivity limit, to derive a single, two-dimensional evolution equation for the interfacial location, which accounts for gravity, capillarity, and electrostatic effects. A linear stability analysis is carried out which shows that non-axisymmetric modes become more dominant with increasing electric field strength. Our fully two-dimensional numerical solutions of the evolution equation demonstrate qualitative agreement between the trends observed in the nonlinear regime and those predicted by linear theory. These numerical solutions also show that, depending on the electric field strength and the relative proximity of the outer electrode, the interface either remains spatially uniform, or exhibits either axisymmetric or, importantly, non-axisymmetric travelling waves. The effect of wave formation on the interfacial area is investigated in connection with the use of electric fields to control thin film flows to enhance heat and mass transfer rates.