Solutions are presented for both laminar developing flow in a curved pipe with a parabolic inlet velocity and laminar transitional flow downstream of a curved pipe into a straight outlet. Scalings and linearized analyses about appropriate base states are used to show that both cases obey the same governing equations and boundary conditions. In particular, the governing equations in the two cases are linearized about fully developed Poiseuille flow in cylindrical coordinates and about Dean’s velocity profile for curved pipe flow in toroidal coordinates respectively. Subsequently, we identify appropriate scalings of the axial coordinate and disturbance velocities that eliminate dependence on the Reynolds number $Re$ and dimensionless pipe curvature $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ from the governing equations and boundary conditions in the limit of small $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ and large $Re$. Direct numerical simulations confirm the scaling arguments and theoretical solutions for a range of $Re$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$. Maximum values of the axial velocity, secondary velocity and pressure perturbations are determined along the curved pipe section. Results collapse when the scalings are applied, and the theoretical solutions are shown to be valid up to Dean numbers of $D=Re^{2}\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=O(100)$. The developing flows are shown numerically and analytically to contain spatial oscillations. The numerically determined decay of the velocity perturbations is also used to determine entrance/development lengths for both flows, which are shown to scale linearly with the Reynolds number, but with a prefactor ${\sim}60\,\%$ larger than the textbook case of developing flow in a straight pipe.

An experimental investigation of an unsteady adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer is described. It is demonstrated that the local flow physics is largely dominated by an inflectional instability which gives rise to an embedded shear layer contained within the boundary layer. Experimental measurements are presented which are fully consistent with the presence of clockwise spanwise-oriented coherent vorticity within the embedded shear layer. Using embedded shear layer scaling parameters in the form of the shear layer vorticity thickness and the velocity defect at the upper inflection point, both the mean and the phase-averaged boundary layer velocity profiles exhibit similarity in both space and time over a large wall-normal extent. In a similar manner, the profiles of the streamwise-component turbulence intensity and Reynolds stress also exhibit similarity when scaled with the embedded shear layer parameters. The embedded shear layer scaling of previously published adverse pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer measurements confirms its generic applicability in a wide range of flow-field geometries and extending to high Reynolds numbers.

For the first time, a physical mechanism is identified to explain the phase lag term in Powell’s impinging feedback loop equation (Powell, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 83 (2), 1988, pp. 515–533). Ultra-high-speed schlieren reveals a previously unseen periodic transient shock in the wall jet region of underexpanded impinging flows. The motion of this shock appears to be responsible for the production of the acoustic waves corresponding to the impingement tone. It is suggested that the delay between the inception of the shock and the formation of the acoustic wave explains the phase lag in the aeroacoustic feedback process. This suggestion is quantitatively supported through an assessment of Powell’s feedback equation, using high-resolution particle image velocimetry and acoustic measurements.