The dynamics of two-dimensional standing periodic waves at the interface between two inviscid fluids with different densities, subject to monochromatic oscillations normal to the unperturbed interface, is studied under normal- and low-gravity conditions. The motion is simulated over an extended period of time, or up to the point where the interface intersects itself or the curvature becomes very large, using two numerical methods: a boundary-integral method that is applicable when the density of one fluid is negligible compared to that of the other, and a vortex-sheet method that is applicable to the more general case of arbitrary densities. The numerical procedure for the boundary-integral formulation uses a global isoparametric parametrization based on cubic splines, whereas the numerical method for the vortex-sheet formulation uses a local boundary-element parametrization based on circular arcs. Viscous dissipation is simulated by means of a phenomenological damping coefficient added to the Bernoulli equation or to the evolution equation for the strength of the vortex sheet. A comparative study reveals that the boundary-integral method is generally more accurate for simulating the motion over an extended period of time, but the vortex-sheet formulation is significantly more efficient. In the limit of small deformations, the numerical results are in excellent agreement with those predicted by the linear model expressed by Mathieu's equation, and are consistent with the predictions of the Floquet stability analysis. Nonlinear effects for non-infinitesimal amplitudes are manifested in several ways: deviation from the predictions of Mathieu's equation, especially at the extremes of the interfacial oscillation; growth of harmonic waves with wavenumbers in the unstable regimes of the Mathieu stability diagram; formation of complex interfacial structures including paired travelling waves; entrainment and mixing by ejection of droplets from one fluid into the other; and the temporal period tripling observed recently by Jiang et al. (1998). Case studies show that the surface tension, density ratio, and magnitude of forcing play a significant role in determining the dynamics of the developing interfacial patterns.

The linear stability of a fluid confined between two coaxial cylinders rotating independently and with axial sliding (spiral Couette flow) is examined. A wide range of experimental parameters has been explored, including two different radius ratios. Zeroth-order discontinuities are found in the critical surface; they are explained as a result of the competition between the centrifugal and shear instability mechanisms, which appears only in the co-rotating case, close to the rigid-body rotation region. In the counter-rotating case, the centrifugal instability is dominant. Due to the competition, the neutral stability curves develop islands of instability, which considerably lower the instability threshold. Specific and robust numerical methods to handle these geometrical complexities are developed. The results are in very good agreement with the experimental data available, and with previous computations.

An investigation is made into the moving contact line dynamics of a Cahn–Hilliard–van der Waals (CHW) diffuse mean-field interface. The interface separates two incompressible viscous fluids and can evolve either through convection or through diffusion driven by chemical potential gradients. The purpose of this paper is to show how the CHW moving contact line compares to the classical sharp interface contact line. It therefore discusses the asymptotics of the CHW contact line velocity and chemical potential fields as the interface thickness ε and the mobility κ both go to zero. The CHW and classical velocity fields have the same outer behaviour but can have very different inner behaviours and physics. In the CHW model, wall–liquid bonds are broken by chemical potential gradients instead of by shear and change of material at the wall is accomplished by diffusion rather than convection. The result is, mathematically at least, that the CHW moving contact line can exist even with no-slip conditions for the velocity. The relevance and realism or lack thereof of this is considered through the course of the paper.

The two contacting fluids are assumed to be Newtonian and, to a first approximation, to obey the no-slip condition. The analysis is linear. For simplicity most of the analysis and results are for a 90° contact angle and for the fluids having equal dynamic viscosity μ and mobility κ. There are two regions of flow. To leading order the outer-region velocity field is the same as for sharp interfaces (flow field independent of r) while the chemical potential behaves like r−ξ, ξ = π/2/max{θeq, π − θeq}, θeq being the equilibrium contact angle. An exception to this occurs for θeq = 90°, when the chemical potential behaves like ln r/r. The diffusive and viscous contact line singularities implied by these outer solutions are resolved in the inner region through chemical diffusion. The length scale of the inner region is about 10√μκ – typically about 0.5–5 nm. Diffusive fluxes in this region are O(1). These counterbalance the effects of the velocity, which, because of the assumed no-slip boundary condition, fluxes material through the interface in a narrow boundary layer next to the wall.

The asymptotic analysis is supplemented by both linearized and nonlinear finite difference calculations. These are made at two scales, experimental and nanoscale. The first set is done to show CHW interface behaviour and to test the qualitative applicability of the CHW model and its asymptotic theory to practical computations of experimental scale, nonlinear, low capillary number flows. The nanoscale calculations are carried out with realistic interface thicknesses and diffusivities and with various assumed levels of shear-induced slip. These are discussed in an attempt to evaluate the physical relevance of the CHW diffusive model. The various asymptotic and numerical results together indicate a potential usefullness for the CHW model for calculating and modelling wetting and dewetting flows.

In this work we analyse the stability properties of the flow over an isothermal, semi-infinite vertical plate, placed at zero incidence to an otherwise uniform stream at a different temperature. Near the leading edge the boundary layer resembles Blasius flow, but further downstream it approaches that of pure buoyancy-driven flow. A coordinate transformation that describes in a smooth way the evolution between these two limiting similarity states, where the viscous and buoyancy forces are respectively dominant, is used to calculate the basic flow. The stability of this flow has been investigated by making the parallel flow approximation, and using an accurate spectral method on the resulting stability equations. We show how the stability modes discussed by other authors can be followed continuously between the forced and free convection limits; in addition, new instability modes not previously reported in the literature have been found. A spatio–temporal stability analysis of these modes has been carried out to distinguish between absolute and convective instabilities. It seems that absolute instability can only occur when buoyancy forces are opposed to the free stream and when there is a region of reverse flow. Model profiles have been used in this latter case beyond the point of boundary layer separation to estimate the range of reverse flows that support absolute instability. Analysis of the Rayleigh equations for this problem suggests that the absolute instability has an inviscid origin.

This experimental investigation into the nature of free-surface flows was to study the effects of surfactants on the wake of a surface-piercing cylinder. A better understanding of the process of vorticity generation and conversion at a free surface due to the absence or presence of surfactants has been gained. Surfactants, or surface contaminants, have the tendency to reduce the surface tension proportionally to the respective concentration at the free surface. Thus when surfactant concentration varies across a free surface, surface tension gradients occur and this results in shear stresses, thus altering the boundary condition at the free surface. A low Reynolds number wake behind a surface-piercing cylinder was chosen as the field of study, using digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) to map the velocity and vorticity field for three orthogonal cross-sections of the flow. Reynolds numbers ranged from 350 to 460 and the Froude number was kept below 1.0. In addition, a new technique was used to simultaneously map the free surface deformation. Shadowgraph imaging of the free surface was also used to gain a better understanding of the flow. It was found that, depending on the surface condition, the connection of the shedding vortex filaments in the wake of the cylinder was greatly altered with the propensity for surface tension gradients to redirect the vorticity near the free surface to that of the surface-parallel component. This result has an impact on the understanding of turbulent flows in the vicinity of a free surface with varying surface conditions.

Small-scale random fluctuations of atmospheric variables are ubiquitous dynamical components in the stable, free atmosphere. There, within the O(1–10 m) vertical wavelength band, spectra of temperature and horizontal velocity often follow either a m−5/3 or a m−3 power law, m being the vertical wavenumber. Using high-resolution vertical profiles obtained by balloon-born instrumentation in the troposphere and stratosphere, we determine experimental probability density functions (PDFs) of velocity and temperature fluctuations in the spectral band (2–20 m) within atmospheric layers which follow one or the other spectral law. PDFs of such band-filtered fluctuations of temperature and velocities (horizontal and vertical) are estimated within 101 seemingly homogeneous atmospheric layers. It appears that PDFs of horizontal velocity fluctuations, once normalized by their r.m.s. values, do collapse towards two significantly different regimes depending upon the spectral law followed in the wavelength band considered. On the other hand, temperature fluctuation PDFs are shown to be close to each other in both regimes. All these PDFs show close-to-exponential tails. Their high kurtosis appears to be mainly related to intermittency of the fluctuations fields, though marginal influence of residual inhomogeneity of the selected layers may be suspected. These results are compared with published results of laboratory and numerical experiments. We wish to emphasize the unexpected non-Gaussian character of these PDFs.

This paper uses thin-film asymptotics to show how a thin vapour layer can support a liquid which is heated from below and cooled from above, a process known as horizontal film boiling. This approach leads to a single, strongly-nonlinear evolution equation which incorporates buoyancy, capillary and evaporative effects. The stability of the vapour layer is analysed using a variety of methods for both saturated and subcooled film boiling. In subcooled film boiling, there is a stationary solution, a constant-thickness vapour film, which is determined by a simple heat-conduction balance. This is Rayleigh–Taylor unstable because the heavier liquid is above the vapour, but the instability is completely suppressed for sufficient subcooling. A bifurcation analysis determines a supercritical branch of stable, spatially-periodic solutions when the basic state is no longer stable. Numerical branch tracing extends this into the strongly-nonlinear regime, revealing a hysteresis loop and a secondary bifurcation to a branch of travelling waves which are stable under certain conditions. There are no stationary solutions in saturated film boiling, but the initial development of vapour bubbles is determined by directly solving the time-dependent evolution equation. This yields important information about the transient heat transfer during bubble development.

A vertical column of an inviscid fluid, heated uniformly from below through a horizontal rigid bottom, is studied, with focus on the dynamics of the vapour/liquid interface near the three-phase (contact) line. The interfacial motion is induced by the competing effects of liquid feeding from above and evaporative mass loss through the interface. A linearized solution is obtained that describes the location of the contact line. The solution is used to study the transition processes to and from film boiling, where part of the liquid, lying on top of a vapour layer, can spontaneously be drawn downward and touch the heated bottom. Recession or advancement of the contact line then determines whether the film boiling is sustained or broken. It is seen that the correct contact-line dynamics cannot be predicted solely from a global mass balance in the liquid column.

Contour dynamics is used to compute the two-dimensional (f-plane) motion of an initially circularly symmetric barotropic eddy with piecewise-uniform vorticity as it is advected around a circular obstacle by a uniform upstream current. For grazing incidence of this ‘shielded’ eddy (compensating positive and negative vorticity) the main effect of the vortex images (inside the obstacle) is to change the speed of those particles in the outer portion of the eddy that are closest to the obstacle; a lesser velocity is induced on the oppositely signed vortices near the eddy centre. The result is a systematic separation of the centroids of the ± vortices in the eddy, and the eddy emerges far downstream with an invariant dipole moment (m = 1 azimuthal mode). This causes the eddy to move with a constant velocity V normal to the uniform basic flow. The ratio of the numerically computed V to the accompanying far-field dipole moment agrees with a previous analytical theory for a completely isolated eddy subjected to a small-amplitude m = 1 initial disturbance. The scattering effect might be realizable in a rotating homogeneous fluid by translating a cylinder relative to an otherwise stationary eddy. Application to a density-stratified model is suggested.

Measurements in the turbulent momentum and thermal boundary layers on a rotating disk with a uniform heat flux surface are described for Reynolds numbers up to 106. Measurements include mean velocities and temperatures, all six Reynolds stresses, turbulent temperature fluctuations, and three turbulent heat fluxes. The mean velocity profiles have no wake region, but the mean temperature profiles do. The turbulent temperature fluctuations have a large peak in the outer layer, and there is a third turbulent heat flux in the cross-flow direction. Correlation coefficients and structure parameters are not constant across the boundary layer as they are in two-dimensional boundary layers (2DBLs), and their values are lower. The turbulent Prandtl number agrees with 2DBL values in the lower part of the outer region but is reduced from the 2DBL values higher in the boundary layer. In the outer region of the boundary layer, the transport processes differ significantly from what is observed in two-dimensional turbulent boundary layers: ejections dominate the transport of momentum while both ejections and sweeps contribute to the transport of the passive scalar.

Results of numerical simulations of a forced shear flow in an annular geometry are presented. The particular geometry used in this work reduces the effects of centrifugal and Coriolis forces. However, there are still a large number of system parameters (shear width, shear profile, radius of curvature, initial conditions, etc.) to characterize. This set of variables is limited after the code has been validated with experimental results (Rabaud & Couder 1983; Chomaz et al. 1988) and with the associated linear stability analysis. As part of the linear stability characterization, the pseudo-spectrum for the associated Orr–Sommerfeld operator for plane, circular Couette flow is calculated, and it is found to be insensitive to perturbations.

The numerical simulation code is a highly accurate de-aliased spectral method which utilizes banded operators to increase the computational efficiency. Viscous dissipation terms enter the code directly from the equations of motion. The results from the simulation code at low Reynolds numbers are compared with the results from linear stability analysis and are used to give predictions for the coefficients of the Landau equation describing the saturation behaviour near the critical Reynolds number. Numerical results at higher Reynolds numbers demonstrate the effects of spin-up and spin-down, including the experimentally observed hysteresis. The properties of two- dimensional shears at high Reynolds numbers, at which temporal states are formed, are also addressed.

The hydrostatic primitive equations of motion which have been used in large-scale weather prediction and climate modelling over the last few decades are analysed with variational methods in an isentropic Eulerian framework. The use of material isentropic coordinates for the Eulerian hydrostatic equations is known to have distinct conceptual advantages since fluid motion is, under inviscid and statically stable circumstances, confined to take place on quasi-horizontal isentropic surfaces. First, an Eulerian isentropic Hamilton's principle, expressed in terms of fluid parcel variables, is therefore derived by transformation of a Lagrangian Hamilton's principle to an Eulerian one. This Eulerian principle explicitly describes the boundary dynamics of the time-dependent domain in terms of advection of boundary isentropes sB; these are the values the isentropes have at their intersection with the (lower) boundary. A partial Legendre transform for only the interior variables yields an Eulerian ‘action’ principle. Secondly, Noether's theorem is used to derive energy and potential vorticity conservation from the Eulerian Hamilton's principle. Thirdly, these conservation laws are used to derive a wave-activity invariant which is second-order in terms of small-amplitude disturbances relative to a resting or moving basic state. Linear stability criteria are derived but only for resting basic states. In mid-latitudes a time- scale separation between gravity and vortical modes occurs. Finally, this time-scale separation suggests that conservative geostrophic and ageostrophic approximations can be made to the Eulerian action principle for hydrostatic flows. Approximations to Eulerian variational principles may be more advantageous than approximations to Lagrangian ones because non-dimensionalization and scaling tend to be based on Eulerian estimates of the characteristic scales involved. These approximations to the stratified hydrostatic formulation extend previous approximations to the shallow- water equations. An explicit variational derivation is given of an isentropic version of Hoskins & Bretherton's model for atmospheric fronts.

A spectral approximation for diffusion of passive scalar in stably and strongly stratified turbulence is presented. The approximation is based on a linearized approximation for the Eulerian two-time correlation and Corrsin's conjecture for the Lagrangian two-time correlation. For strongly stratified turbulence, the vertical component of the turbulent velocity field is well approximated by a collection of Fourier modes (waves) each of which oscillates with a frequency depending on the direction of the wavevector. The proposed approximation suggests that the phase mixing among the Fourier modes having different frequencies causes the decay of the Lagrangian two-time vertical velocity autocorrelation, and the highly oscillatory nature of these modes results in the suppression of single-particle dispersion in the vertical direction. The approximation is free from any ad hoc adjusting parameter and shows that the suppression depends on the spectra of the velocity and fluctuating density fields. It is in good agreement with direct numerical simulations for strongly stratified turbulence.

We investigate the linear stability of inviscid flows which are subject to a conservative body force. This includes a broad range of familiar conservative systems, such as ideal MHD, natural convection, flows driven by electrostatic forces and axisymmetric, swirling, recirculating flow. We provide a simple, unified, linear stability criterion valid for any conservative system. In particular, we establish a principle of maximum action of the form

formula here

where η is the Lagrangian displacement,e is a measure of the disturbance energy, T and V are the kinetic and potential energies, and L is the Lagrangian. Here d represents a variation of the type normally associated with Hamilton's principle, in which the particle trajectories are perturbed in such a way that the time of flight for each particle remains the same. (In practice this may be achieved by advecting the streamlines of the base flow in a frozen-in manner.) A simple test for stability is that e is positive definite and this is achieved if L(η) is a maximum at equilibrium. This captures many familiar criteria, such as Rayleigh's circulation criterion, the Rayleigh–Taylor criterion for stratified fluids, Bernstein's principle for magnetostatics, Frieman & Rotenberg's stability test for ideal MHD equilibria, and Arnold's variational principle applied to Euler flows and to ideal MHD. There are three advantages to our test: (i) d2T(η) has a particularly simple quadratic form so the test is easy to apply; (ii) the test is universal and applies to any conservative system; and (iii) unlike other energy principles, such as the energy-Casimir method or the Kelvin–Arnold variational principle, there is no need to identify all of the integral invariants of the flow as a precursor to performing the stability analysis. We end by looking at the particular case of MHD equilibria. Here we note that when u and B are co-linear there exists a broad range of stable steady flows. Moreover, their stability may be assessed by examining the stability of an equivalent magnetostatic equilibrium. When u and B are non-parallel, however, the flow invariably violates the energy criterion and so could, but need not, be unstable. In such cases we identify one mode in which the Lagrangian displacement grows linearly in time. This is reminiscent of the short-wavelength instability of non-Beltrami Euler flows.

The structure of initially isotropic homogeneous turbulence interacting with a columnar vortex (with circulation Γ and radius σ), idealized both as a solid cylinder and a hollow core model is analysed using the inhomogeneous form of linear rapid distortion theory (RDT), for flows where the r.m.s. turbulence velocity u0 is small compared with Γ/σ. The turbulent eddies with scale Γ are distorted by the mean velocity gradient and also, over a distance Γ from the surface of the vortex, by their direct impingement onto it, whether it is solid or hollow. The distortion of the azimuthal component of turbulent vorticity by the differential rotation in the mean flow around the columnar vortex causes the mean-square radial velocity away from the cylinder to increase as (Γt/2πr2)2 (Γx/r)u20, when (r − σ) > Γx, but on the surface of the vortices ((r − σ) < Γx) where 〈u2r〉 is reduced, 〈u2z〉 increases to the same order, while the other components do not grow. Statistically, while the vorticity field remains asymmetric, the velocity field of small-scale eddies near the vortex core rapidly becomes axisymmetric, within a period of two or three revolutions of the columnar vortex. Calculation of the distortion of small-scale initially random velocity fields shows how the turbulent eddies, as they are wrapped around the columnar vortex, become like vortex rings, with similar properties to those computed by Melander & Hussain (1993) using a fully nonlinear direct numerical simulation. A mechanism is proposed for how interactions between the external turbulence and the columnar vortex can lead to non-axisymmetric vortex waves being excited on the vortex and damped fluctuations in its interior. If the columnar vortex is not significantly distorted by these linear effects, estimates are made of how nonlinear effects lead to the formation of axisymmetric turbulent vortices which move as result of their image vorticity (in addition to the self-induction velocity) at a velocity of order u0tΓ/σ2 parallel to the vortex. Even when the circulation (γ) of the turbulent vortices is a small fraction of Γ, they can excite self-destructive displacements through resonance on a time scale σ/u0.

The Nusselt–Reynolds Prize has been established by the Assembly of World Conferences to commemorate outstanding contributions by Wilhelm Nusselt and Osborne Reynolds as experimentalists, researchers, educators, and authors. As many as three prizes may be bestowed at every World Conference, one in each of the areas of heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, or any combination of these.

The prize will be bestowed for outstanding scientific and engineering contributions and eminent achievements in the fields of heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics through (1) experimental studies and analytical/numerical extension of the measurements, (2) development of experimental techniques, visualization techniques, and/or instrumentation, and/or (3) development of design theory (that needs experimental data) and theory-based experimental correlations. These contributions should yield a deeper insight into physical phenomena involved or should yield significant technological advances. In addition to research, the awardee(s) should have made outstanding contributions to the field through teaching, design, or a combination of such activities. The prize is based on achievement through publications or through the application of the science or art. Nationality, age, sex, and society membership will not be considered when evaluating qualifications of candidates. A candidate must be living at the time of designation as a recipient of the prize.

The prize consists of a bronze plaque, and engrossed certificate, and an honorarium. The prize is administered by the Prize Board. The deadline for accepting nominations for the Prize is February 2, 2000. The prize will be awarded at the Fifth World Conference during September 24–28, 2001 in Thessaloniki, Greece where the prize winners will also present plenary lectures on their subjects.

Nominators can obtain further information and download the nomination form from a webpage at http://www.thtlab.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/N-Rprize.html/.