Parametrically excited solitary waves emerge as localized structures in high-aspect-ratio free surfaces subject to vertical vibrations. Herein, we provide the first experimental characterization of the hydrodynamics of these waves using particle image velocimetry. We show that the underlying velocity field of parametrically excited solitary waves is primarily composed of a subharmonic oscillatory component. Our results confirm the accuracy of Hamiltonian models with added dissipation in describing this field. Remarkably, our measurements also uncover the onset of a streaming velocity field which we show to be as important as other crucial nonlinear terms in the current theory. Using vorticity equations, we show that the streaming pattern arises from the coupling of the potential bulk flow with the oscillating boundary layers on the vertical walls. Numerical simulations provide good agreement between this model and experiments.

The edge of a stationary radially expanding liquid sheet and the receding rim bordering a plane sheet are naturally indented. It presents a collection of cusps at the extremity of which the liquid concentrates and is expelled. An experimental description of these cusps for a stationary flat inviscid Savart sheet is given. We identify the stable node–jet structure responsible for the deflection of the incoming flow at the rim and demonstrate how these cusps are the structures that accommodate for both mass and momentum conservation at the sheet edge. Their shape, their number around the sheet, and the residual momentum carried by the ejected liquid are computed.

In some specific conditions, a flying spinning ball deflects in a direction opposite to that predicted by the Magnus effect, which is known as the inverse Magnus effect. To elucidate when and why this effect occurs, we measure the variations of the drag and lift forces on a rotating sphere and the corresponding flow field with the spin ratio (the ratio of the rotational velocity to the translational one). This counterintuitive phenomenon occurs because the boundary layer flow moving against the surface of a rotating sphere undergoes a transition to turbulence, whereas that moving with the rotating surface remains laminar. The turbulence energizes the flow and thus the main separation occurs farther downstream, inducing faster flow velocity there and generating negative lift force. Empirical formulae are derived to predict the location where the flow separates as a function of the Reynolds number and the spin ratio. Using the formulae derived, the condition for the onset of the inverse Magnus effect is suggested based on the negative lift generation mechanism.