Conventional boundary-layer theory cannot be applied when the fluid velocity outside the layer changes direction, and the leading edge of a finite body changes ends. In this paper an approximate method for examining the details of the boundary layer during a single flow reversal (occurring at t = 0) is described. It is based on the expectation that (a) long before reversal (t < -t1), there will be a quasi-steady boundary layer appropriate to flow in one direction; (b) long after reversal (t > t2) there will be a quasi-steady boundary layer appropriate to flow in the opposite direction, and (c) in between there will be a period of pure diffusion. The method is applied to a simple heat-transfer problem, in which a fluid of thermal diffusivity D flows with uniform velocity U = At over the plane y = 0; the strip 0 < x < L of the plane is maintained at temperature T1, while the restof the plane and the fluid far away have temperature T0. The approximate solution is compared with an exact solution of the boundary-layer equation, and is shown to give an accurate prediction of the heat transfer as a function of time. The boundary-layer approximation itself breaks down in regions of length O(D2/3A−1/3) near the ends of the heated strip, as usual; it also breaks down in the neighbourhood of the point x = 1/2At2, t > 0, at which the influence of the new leading edge is first felt after flow reversal. In a solution of the full equation, this region is examined in detail, and boundary-layer theory is shown to be sufficiently accurate for the calculation of heat transfer.

The stalling characteristics of an airfoil in laminar viscous incompressible fluid are investigated. The governing equations in terms of the vorticity and stream function are solved using an implicit finite-difference scheme and point successive relaxation procedure. The development of the impulsively started flow, the initial generation of circulation, and the behaviour of the forces at large times are studied.

Following the impulsive start, the lift is at first very large and then it rapidly drops. The subsequent growth of circulation and lift is associated with the starting vortex. After incipient separation, the lift increases owing to enlargement of the separation bubble and intensification of the flow rotation in it. The extension of this bubble beyond the trailing edge causes it to rupture and brings about the stalling characteristics of the airfoil. Subsequently, new bubbles are formed near the upper surface of the airfoil and are swept away. The behaviour of the lift acting on the airfoil is explained in terms of the strength and sense of these bubbles. The lift increases when attached clockwise bubbles grow and when counterclockwise bubbles are swept away and vice versa.

Using hot-wire-anemometer dynamic-calibration methods, fully developed pipe-flow turbulence measurements have been taken in the Reynolds-number range 80 × 103 to 260 × 103. Comparisons are made with the results of previous workers, obtained using static-calibration methods. From the dynamic-calibration results, a consistent and systematic correlation for the distribution of turbulence quantities becomes evident, the resulting correlation scheme being similar to that which has previously been established for the mean flow. The correlations reported have been partly conjectured in the past by many workers but convincing experimental evidence has always been masked by the scatter in the results, no doubt caused by the difficulties associated with static-calibration methods, particularly the earlier ones. As for the mean flow, the turbulence intensity measurements appear to collapse to an inner and outer law with a region of overlap, from which deductions can be made using dimensional arguments. The long-suspected similarity of the turbulence structure and its consistency with the established mean-flow similarity appears to be confirmed by the measurements reported here.

A few statistical properties of fine-scale velocity and temperature fluctuations have been measured on the axis of symmetry of a heated turbulent round jet. The probability density of ∂θ/∂x, the streamwise derivative of the temperature fluctuation, is strongly negatively skewed, indicating a lack of isotropy for the fine-scale temperature structure. An estimate of the correlation between the velocity and temperature dissipation fields has been obtained by assuming that the dissipation of velocity and dissipation of temperature can be approximated by (∂θ/∂x)2, where u is the streamwise velocity fluctuation, and (∂θ/∂x)2r respectively. The correlation between the quantities (∂θ/∂x)2r and (∂θ/∂x)2r averages over a volume of linear dimension r, is fairly high and depends on the choice of r. An analysis shows that this correlation plays a vital role in the prediction of high-order structure functions of u and θ. The assumed lognormality of the probability density of (∂θ/∂x)2r and (∂θ/∂x)2r and of their joint density is found to be reasonable over a range of r corresponding to the inertial subrange.

The theory of boundary-layer growth at a rear stagnation point, first presented by Proudman & Johnson, is here extended to cover fully three-dimensional rear stagnation points. Supporting numerical solutions of the full initial-value problem establish the relevance of the in viscid similarity solutions obtained.

It was suggested by Lau, Fisher & Puchs (1972) that the basic structure of a ‘turbulent’ round jet might consist, essentially, of an axial array of fairly evenly spaced vortices moving downstream in the mixing region of the jet. The present experimental study is an attempt to establish this hypothesis on a sound footing. The problem which was posed was first to find proof of the existence of a fairly regular pattern in the mixing region, and second to extract detailed information on the component parts of this pattern to identify the nature of the structure.

Hot-wire signals in the mixing layer are known to possess a predominance of spikes. In the region closer to the high velocity side of the layer, these spikes tend to be downward ones whilst in the opposite region, they are upward. These spikes have been attributed to the entrainment mechanism in the mixing layer and had been thought to be random. A closer study of time-history curves of these hotwire signals suggests that they might not be as random as would appear at first glance. A probability analysis was conducted of the time intervals between the successive downward spikes in the u′ signals, and it was found that indeed the highest probability occurred when the time interval corresponded to a frequency equal to the vortex passing frequency.

A time-domain averaging (or eduction) technique was used to try to identify the nature of the flow structure using the spikes to trigger the eduction process. On the basis of these results it would seem that the suggestion of a vortex street is well founded. Furthermore, it appears that, as the individual vortices in the street move downstream, they are continuously transporting fluid masses across the mixing layer, and it is this effect which is producing the Reynolds stresses in the mixing layer, and causing the spikes in the u’ signals in this region.

In this paper we consider the flow field generated by a uniform electrostatic field in and about a pair of identical liquid drops immersed in a conducting fluid. It is assumed that the undisturbed electric field is parallel to the line joining the centres of the two drops. The flow field is due to the tangential electric stress over the surfaces of the drops and here this stress and the flow field are expressed in terms of bispherical harmonics. When the distance between the centres of the drops is many drop diameters the tangential electric stress and the flow field in and about one drop are unaffected by the presence of the other drop, as expected. When the distance between the centres of the drops is of the order of two drop diameters there is a substantial modification in the tangential electric stress at the surfaces of the drops and in the induced flow field, especially in the region between the planes through the drop centres perpendicular to the undisturbed electric field.

Many experimenters have used oscillating grids to produce turbulence for various laboratory purposes, especially in studies of mixing, but there have been few direct measurements of the properties of the turbulence itself. In the present paper we report experiments which attempt to relate the turbulent velocity and length scales to the external parameters, the frequency and amplitude, for three forms of grid oscillated in a tank of water. Turbulent velocities have been measured in the absence of a mean flow by using a hot film moved through the fluid to provide its own mean velocity. The output is stored and analysed in a small computer, which rapidly evaluates velocity and length scale statistics from an ensemble of records. The spatial variation of these quantities with distance from the stirrer is of special interest. It agrees with results suggested by an inertial-decay theory, and with previous measurements made by Bouvard & Dumas (1967) using a different form of stirrer. A particular purpose of the work has been to ‘calibrate’ the entrainment experiments of Turner (1968), by providing absolute scales of velocity and length in the fluid near a mixing interface, for the same grid as was used in the earlier experiments. Evidence is presented which suggests that other forms of grid may not be calibrated simply by extrapolating these results.

An integral-equation formulation is used to calculate wave forces on bodies having a vertical axis of symmetry. The development enables one to calculate the forces without completely determining the local pressure field, thus offering a considerable reduction of computational effort. Numerical results are presented for a hemisphere at the water surface and vertical circular cylinders.

The interaction between a vibrating structure and an unsteady potential flow-field disturbance induced by the motion of the structure itself is investigated, and is shown to be a significant source of both nonlinear excitation and nonlinear dissipation. An approximate analysis, based on small nonlinear disturbance theory, is presented of the forces that influence the characteristic behaviour of self-excited harmonium reeds vibrating at finite amplitudes. It is demonstrated that the ideas brought forth by this example can be generalized to apply to other flow-induced vibrating systems, regardless of the excitation mechanism, provided that certain basic assumptions about the flow can be made. For the case of the harmonium reed, it is shown that, taken by itself, an account of the feedback forces arising from induced higher-order unsteady disturbances in the surrounding potential flow field is sufficient for predicting the net nonlinear dissipative force that eventually causes the reed to reach and maintain a finite limiting amplitude. In particular, it is demonstrated that the nonlinear energy drain from the motion of the reed is a consequence of the net effect of the higher-harmonic disturbances that are generated near the structure.

A result of the analysis is the development of a functional dependence of the interactive forces on the system geometry and the flow velocity. One of the advantages of obtaining a functional expression is the ability to carry out parametric studies in the context of vibration and noise control.

The quasi-geostrophic flow over an obstacle placed on the lower of two horizontal planes in rapid rotation about the vertical z axis is considered. The flow field is calculated in the limit of vanishing viscosity after assuming the flow far upstream of the obstacle to be uniform, of magnitude V. The effects that occur in homogeneous flow are compared with those that occur in stratified flow.

If the flow is homogeneous, there is a region of closed streamlines if \[ h_0R^{-1} > \min_r\left[r\left/\int_0^r xh(x)dx\right. \right], \] where the obstacle is assumed to be cylindrically symmetric and given by z = Hh0h(r/L), H is the distance between the planes and R is the Rossby number V/(fL). For any obstacle the right-hand side of (1) is greater than zero and hence h0 must be positive for a closed-streamline region to occur. It is argued, and illustrated by a particular example, that because (1) involves an integral of h(x) a representative flow pattern can be obtained for obstacles of less than critical height by considering the special case of a flat-topped obstacle, as is done by Ingersoll (1969).

If the flow is stratified with constant Brunt-Väisälä frequency N, the condition for the existence of closed streamlines is shown to be \[ h_0R^{-1} > \min_r \left[B\int_0^{\infty}\int_0^{\infty}xt\cot h(Bt)h(x)J_0(tx)J_1(tr)\,dt\,dx \right]^{-1}, \] where B = NH/fL. In contrast to the homogeneous situation, the right-hand side of (2) can be zero and is so if the obstacle is somewhere vertical. Such obstacles will produce a closed-streamline region no matter now small their height and will hence not lead to patterns representative of smooth obstacles. This is because a stratified column of fluid cannot be stretched or compressed over an infinitesimal distance. Instead, the column bends markedly and the fluid flows around the obstacle. The critical conditions (1) and (2) for a number of specific obstacles are calculated and discussed.