Showing papers in "Journal of Fluid Mechanics in 1970"

A numerical study of three-dimensional turbulent channel flow at large Reynolds numbers

Abstract: The three-dimensional, primitive equations of motion have been integrated numerically in time for the case of turbulent, plane Poiseuille flow at very large Reynolds numbers. A total of 6720 uniform grid intervals were used, with sub-grid scale effects simulated with eddy coefficients proportional to the local velocity deformation. The agreement of calculated statistics against those measured by Laufer ranges from good to marginal. The eddy shapes are examined, and only the u-component, longitudinal eddies are found to be elongated in the downstream direction. However, the lateral v eddies have distinct downstream tilts. The turbulence energy balance is examined, including the separate effects of vertical diffusion of pressure and local kinetic energy.It is concluded that the numerical approach to the problem of turbulence at large Reynolds numbers is already profitable, with increased accuracy to be expected with modest increase of numerical resolution.

The stress system in a suspension of force-free particles

Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to consider in general terms the properties of the bulk stress in a suspension of non-spherical particles, on which a couple (but no force) may be imposed by external means, immersed in a Newtonian fluid. The stress is sought in terms of the instantaneous particle orientations, and the problem of determining these orientations from the history of the motion is not considered. The bulk stress and bulk velocity gradient in the suspension are defined as averages over an ensemble of realizations, these averages being equal to integrals over a suitably chosen volume of ambient fluid and particles together when the suspension is statistically homogeneous. Without restriction on the type of particle or the concentration or the Reynolds number of the motion, the contribution to the bulk stress due to the presence of the particles is expressed in terms of integrals involving the stress and velocity over the surfaces of particles together with volume integrals not involving the stress. The antisymmetric part of this bulk stress is equal to half the total couple imposed on the particles per unit volume of the suspension. When the Reynolds number of the relative motion near one particle is small, a suspension of couple-free particles of constant shape is quasi-Newtonian; i.e. the dependence of the bulk stress on bulk velocity gradient is linear. Two significant features of a suspension of non-spherical particles are (1) that this linear relation is not of the Newtonian form and (2) that the effect of exerting a couple on the particles is not confined to the generation of an antisymmetrical part of the bulk stress tensor. The role of surface tension at the particle boundaries is described.In the case of a dilute suspension the contributions to the bulk stress from the various particles are independent, and the contributions arising from the bulk rate of strain and from the imposed couple are independent for each particle. Each particle acts effectively as a force doublet (i.e. equal and opposite adjoining ‘Stokeslets’) whose tensor strength determines the disturbance flow far from the particle and whose symmetrical and antisymmetrical parts are designated as a stresslet and a couplet. The couplet strength is determined wholly by the externally imposed couple on the particle; but the stresslet strength depends both on the bulk rate of strain and, for a non-spherical particle, on the rate of rotation of the particle relative to the fluid resulting from the imposed couple. The general properties of the stress system in a dilute suspension are illustrated by the specific and complete results which may be obtained for rigid ellipsoidal particles by use of the work by Jeffery (1922).

Slender-body theory for particles of arbitrary cross-section in Stokes flow

Abstract: A rigid body whose length (2l) is large compared with its breadth (represented by R0) is straight but is otherwise of arbitrary shape. It is immersed in fluid whose undisturbed velocity, at the position of the body and relative to it, may be either uniform, corresponding to translational motion of the body, parallel or perpendicular to the body length, or a linear function of distance along the body length, corresponding to an ambient pure straining motion or to rotational motion of the body. Inertia forces are negligible. It is possible to represent the body approximately by a distribution of Stokeslets over a line enclosed by the body; and then the resultant force required to sustain translational motion, the net stresslet strength in a straining motion, and the resultant couple required to sustain rotational motion, can all be calculated. In the first approximation the Stokeslet strength density F(x) is independent of the body shape and is of order μUe, where U is a measure of the undisturbed velocity and e = (log 2l/R0)−1. In higher approximations, F(x) depends on both the body cross-section and the way in which it varies along the length. From an investigation of the ‘inner’ flow field near one section of the body, and the condition that it should join smoothly with the ‘outer’ flow which is determined by the body as a whole, it is found that a given shape and size of the local cross-section is equivalent, in all cases of longitudinal relative motion, to a circle of certain radius, and, in all cases of transverse relative motion, to an ellipse of certain dimensions and orientation. The equivalent circle and the equivalent ellipse may be found from certain boundary-value problems for the harmonic and biharmonic equations respectively. The perimeter usually provides a better measure of the magnitude of the effect of a non-circular shape of a cross-section than its area. Explicit expressions for the various integral force parameters correct to the order of e2 are presented, together with iterative relations which allow their determination to the order of any power of e. For a body which is ‘longitudinally elliptic’ and has uniform cross-sectional shape, the force parameters are given explicitly to the order of any power of e, and, for a cylindrical body, to the order of e3.

The mechanics of an organized wave in turbulent shear flow

Abstract: Some preliminary results on the behaviour of controlled wave disturbances introduced artificially into turbulent channel flow are reported. Weak plane-wave disturbances are introduced by vibrating ribbons near each wall. The amplitude and relative phase of the streamwise component of the induced wave is educed from a hot wire signal, allowing the wave speed and attenuation characteristics and the wave shape to be traced downstream. The normal component and wave Reynolds stress have been inferred from these data. It appears that Orr–Sommerfeld theories attempted to date are inadequate for description of these waves.

Aerodynamic sound generation by turbulent flow in the vicinity of a scattering half plane

Abstract: The presence of the edge of a half plane in a turbulent fluid results in a large increase in the noise generated by that fluid at low Mach numbers. The parameter which is important is the product then the farfield sound has the same features as would be predicted by geometrical acoustics. The edge does not produce any significant sound amplification.

Numerical solutions for steady flow past a circular cylinder at Reynolds numbers up to 100

Abstract: Finite-difference solutions of the equations of motion for steady incompressible flow around a circular cylinder have been obtained for a range of Reynolds numbers from R = 5 to R = 100. The object is to extend the Reynolds number range for reliable data on the steady flow, particularly with regard to the growth of the wake. The wake length is found to increase approximately linearly with R over the whole range from the value, just below R = 7, at which it first appears. Calculated values of the drag coefficient, the angle of separation, and the pressure and vorticity distributions over the cylinder surface are presented. The development of these properties with Reynolds number is consistent, but it does not seem possible to predict with any certainty their tendency as R → ∞. The first attempt to obtain the present results was made by integrating the time-dependent equations, but the approach to steady flow was so slow at higher Reynolds numbers that the method was abandoned.

Thermal instabilities in rapidly rotating systems

Abstract: Thermal instabilities of a contained fluid are investigated for a fairly general class of problems in which the dynamics are dominated by the effects of rotation. In systems of constant depth in the direction of the axis of rotation the instability develops when the buoyancy forces suffice to overcome the stabilizing effects of thermal conduction and of viscous dissipation in the Ekman boundary layers. Owing to the Taylor–Proudman theorem, a slight gradient in depth exerts a strongly stabilizing influence. The theory is applied to describe the instability of the ‘lower symmetric regime’ in the rotating annulus experiments at high rotation rates. An example of geophysical relevance is the instability of a self-gravitating, internally heated, rotating fluid sphere. The results of the perturbation theory for this problem agree reasonably well with the results of an extension of the analysis by Roberts (1968).

Analytical theories of turbulence

Abstract: This paper surveys the current state of analytical attempts at a theory of turbulence. The formulation of the problem in terms of moments is discussed. The difficulty posed by the closure problem is examined in detail using the quasinormal approximation as an example. The notion of dynamical relaxation by non-linear scrambling leads to the introduction of eddy relaxation times and the direct-interaction approximation. The properties of the direct-interaction approximation are indicated. Finally, a comparison is made between numerical solution of the equations of turbulence their and direct numerical simulation of the Navier–Stokes equations.

Aquatic animal propulsion of high hydromechanical efficiency

Abstract: This paper attempts to emulate the great study by Goldstein (1929) ‘On the vortex wake of a screw propeller’, by looking for a dynamical theory of how another type of propulsion system has evolved towards ever higher performance. An ‘undulatory’ mode of animal propulsion in water is rather common among invertebrates, and this paper offers a preliminary quantitative analysis of how a series of modifications of that basic undulatory mode, found in the vertebrates (and especially in the fishes), tends to improve speed and hydromechanical efficiency.Posterior lateral compression is the most important of these. It is studied first in ‘pure anguilliform’ (eel-like) motion of fishes whose posterior cross-sections are laterally compressed, although maintaining their depth (while the body tapers) by means of long continuous dorsal and ventral fins all the way to a vertical ‘trailing edge’. Lateral motion of such a cross-section produces a large and immediate exchange of momentum with a considerable ‘virtual mass’ of water near it.In § 2, ‘elongated-body theory’ (an extended version of inviscid slender-body theory) is developed in detail for pure anguilliform motion and subjected to several careful checks and critical studies. Provided that longitudinal variation of cross-sectional properties is slow on a scale of the cross-sectional depth s (say, if the wavelength of significant harmonic components of that variation exceeds 5s), the basic approach is applicable and lateral water momentum per unit length is closely proportional to the square of the local cross-section depth.The vertical trailing edge can be thought of as acting with a lateral force on the wake through lateral water momentum shed as the fish moves on. The fish's mean rate of working is the mean product of this lateral force with the lateral component of trailing-edge movement, and is enhanced by the virtual-mass effect, which makes for good correlation between lateral movement and local water momentum. The mean rate of shedding of energy of lateral water motions into the vortex wake represents the wasted element in this mean rate of working, and it is from the difference of these two rates that thrust and efficiency can best be calculated.Section 3, still from the standpoint of inviscid theory, studies the effect of any development of discrete dorsal and ventral fins, through calculations on vortex sheets shed by fins. A multiplicity of discrete dorsal (or ventral) fins might be thought to destroy the slow variation of cross-sectional properties on which elongated-body theory depends, but the vortex sheets filling the gaps between them are shown to maintain continuity rather effectively, avoiding thrust reduction and permitting a slight decrease in drag.Further advantage may accrue from a modification of such a system in which (while essentially anguilliform movement is retained) the anterior dorsal and ventral fins become the only prominent ones. Vortex sheets in the gaps between them and the caudal fin may largely be reabsorbed into the caudal-fin boundary layer, without any significant increase in wasted wake energy. The mean rate of working can be improved, however, because the trailing edges of the dorsal and ventral fins do work that is not cancelled at the caudal fin's leading edge, as phase shifts destroy the correlation of that edge's lateral movement with the vortex-sheet momentum reabsorbed there.Tentative improvements to elongated-body theory through taking into account lateral forces of viscous origin are made in §4. These add to both the momentumandenergyof the water's lateral motions, but mayreduce the efficiencyof anguilliform motion because the extra momentum at the trailing edge, resulting from forces exerted by anterior sections, is badly correlated with that edge's lateral movements. Adoption of the ‘carangiform’ mode, in which the amplitude of the basic undulation grows steeply from almost zero over the first half or even two-thirds of a fish's length to a large value at the caudal fin, avoids this difficulty.Any movement which a fish attempts to make, however, is liable to be accompanied by ‘recoil’, that is, by extra movements of pure translation and rotation required for overall conservation of momentum and angular momentum. These recoil movements, a potentially serious source of thrust and efficiency loss in carangiform motion, are calculated in § 4, which shows how they are minimized with the right distribution of total inertia (the sum of fish mass and the water's virtual mass). It seems to be no coincidence that carangiform motion goes always with a long anterior region of high depth (possessing a substantial moment of total inertia) and a region of greatly reduced depth just before the caudal fin.The theory suggests (§5) that reduction of caudal-fin area in relation to depth by development of a caudal fin into a herring-like ‘pair of highly sweptback wings’ should reduce drag without significant loss of thrust. The same effect can be expected (although elongated-body theory ceases to be applicable) from widening of the wing pair (sweepback reduction). That line of development of the carangiform mode in many of the Percomorphi leads towards the lunate tail, a culminating point in the enhancement of speed and propulsive efficiency which has been reached also along some quite different lines of evolution.A beginning in the analysis of its advantages is made here using a ‘twodimensional’ linearized theory. Movements of any horizontal section of caudal fin, with yaw angle fluctuating in phase with its velocity of lateral translation, are studied for different positions of the yawing axis. The wasted energy in the wake has a sharp minimum when that axis is at the ‘three-quarter-chord point’, but rate of working increases somewhat for axis positions distal to that. Something like an optimum regarding efficiency, thrust and the proportion of thrust derived from suction at the section's rounded leading edge is found when the yawing axis is along the trailing edge.This leads on the present over-simplified theory to the suggestion that a hydromechanically advantageous configuration has the leading edge bowed forward but the trailing edge straight. Finally, there is a brief discussion of possible future work, taking three-dimensional and non-linear effects into account, that might throw light on the commonness of a trailing edge that is itself slightly bowed forward among the fastest marine animals.

The motion of long slender bodies in a viscous fluid Part 1. General theory

Abstract: A solid long slender body is considered placed in a fluid undergoing a given undisturbed flow. Under conditions in which fluid inertia is negligible, the force per unit length on the body is obtained as an asymptotic expansion in terms of the ratio of the cross-sectional radius to body length. Specific examples are given for the resistance to translation of long slender bodies for cases in which the body centre-line is curved as well as for those for which the centre-line is straight.

The two-dimensional mixing region

Abstract: The two-dimensional incompressible mixing layer was investigated by using constant-temperature, linearized hot wire anemometers. The measurements were divided into three categories: (1) the conventional average measurements; (2) time-average measurements in the turbulent and the non-turbulent zones; (3) ensemble average measurements conditioned to a specific location of the interface. The turbulent energy balance was constructed twice, once using the conventional results and again using the turbulent zone results. Some differences emerged between the two sets of results. It appears that the mixing region can be divided into two regions, one on the high velocity side which resembles the outer part of a wake and the other on the low velocity side which resembles a jet. The binding turbulent–non-turbulent interfaces seem to move independently of each other. There is a strong connexion between the instantaneous location of the interface and the axial velocity profile. Indeed the well known exponential mean velocity profile never actually exists at any given instant. In spite of the complexity of the flow the simple concepts of eddy viscosity and eddy diffusivity appear to be valid within the turbulent zone.

Large-scale motion in the intermittent region of a turbulent boundary layer

Abstract: The outer intermittent region of a fully developed turbulent boundary layer with zero pressure gradient was extensively explored in the hope of shedding some light on the shape and motion of the interface separating the turbulent and non-turbulent regions as well as on the nature of the related large-scale eddies within the turbulent regime. Novel measuring techniques were devised, such as conditional sampling and conditional averaging, and others were turned to new uses, such as reorganizing in map form the space-time auto- and cross-correlation data involving both the U and V velocity components as well as I, the intermittency function. On the basis of the new experimental results, a conceptual model for the development of the interface and for the entrainment of new fluid is proposed.

Convective instability of ferromagnetic fluids

Abstract: Convective instability of a ferromagnetic fluid is predicted for a fluid layer heated from below in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field. Convection is caused by a spatial variation in magnetization which is induced when the magnetization of the fluid is a function of temperature and a temperature gradient is established across the layer. A linearized convective instability analysis predicts the critical temperature gradient when only the magnetic mechanism is important, as well as when both the magnetic and buoyancy mechanisms are operative. The magnetic mechanism predominates over the buoyancy mechanism in fluid layers about 1 mm thick. For a fluid layer contained between two free boundaries which are constrained flat, the exact solution is derived for some parameter values and oscillatory instability cannot occur. For rigid boundaries, approximate solutions for stationary instability are derived by the Galerkin method for a wide range of parameter values. It is shown that in this case the Galerkin method yields an eigenvalue which is stationary to small changes in the trial functions, because the Galerkin method is equivalent to an adjoint variational principle.

Experiments on nearly homogeneous turbulent shear flow

Abstract: With a transverse array of channels of equal widths but differing resistances, we have generated an improved approximation to spatially homogeneous turbulent shear flow. The scales continue to grow with downstream distance, even in a region where the mean velocity gradient and one-point turbulence moments (component energies and shear stress) have attained essentially constant values. This implies asymptotic non-stationarity in the basic Eulerian frame convected with the mean flow, behaviour which seems to be inherent to homogeneous turbulent shear flow.Two-point velocity correlations with space separation and with space-time separation yield characteristic departures from isotropy, including clear ‘upstream–downstream’ unsymmetries which cannot be classified simply as axis tilting of ellipse-like iso-correlation contours.The high wave-number structure is roughly locally isotropic although the turbulence Reynolds number based on Taylor ‘microscale’ and r.m.s. turbulent velocity is only 130. Departures from isotropy in the turbulent velocity gradient moments are measurable.The approximation to homogeneity permits direct estimation of all components of the turbulent pressure/velocity-gradient tensor, which accounts for inter-component energy transfer and helps to regulate the turbulent shear stress. It is found that its principal axes are aligned with those of the Reynolds stress tensor. Finally, the Rotta (1951, 1962) linear hypothesis for intercomponent energy transfer rate is roughly confirmed.

A non-linear equation incorporating damping and dispersion

Abstract: The steady-state solution of the non-linear equation \[ h_t + hh_x + h_{xxx} = \delta h_{xx} \] with both damping and dispersion is examined in the phase plane. For small damping an averaging technique is used to obtain an oscillatory asymptotic solution. This solution becomes invalid as the period of the oscillation approaches infinity, and is matched to a straightforward expansion solution. The results obtained are compared with a numerical integration of the equation.

The constitutive equation for a dilute emulsion

Abstract: A constitutive equation for dilute emulsions is developed by considering the deformations, assumed infinitesimal, of a small droplet freely suspended in a time-dependent shearing flow. This equation is non-linear in the kinematic variables and gives rise to ‘fluid memory’ effects attributable to the droplet surface dynamics. Furthermore, it has the same form as the corresponding expression for a dilute suspension of Hookean elastic spheres (Goddard & Miller 1967), and reduces to a relation previously proposed by Schowalter, Chaffey & Brenner (1968) when time-dependent effects become small.Numerical solutions are also presented for the case of a small bubble in a steady extensional flow for the purpose of estimating the range of validity of the small deformation analysis. It is shown that, unlike the drag of a bubble which, in creeping motion, is known to be relatively insensitive to its exact shape, the macroscopic stress field in an emulsion is not well described by the present analysis unless the shapes of the deformed bubbles agree closely with those given by the first-order theory. Thus, the present rheological equation should prove of value in a qualitative rather than a quantitative sense.

Instability of erodible beds

Abstract: The stability of a sand bed in an alluvial channel is investigated by a two-dimensional mathematical model, based on the vorticity transport equation. The model takes account of the internal friction and describes the non-uniform distribution of the suspended sediment. It turns out that the inclusion of the friction and of a definite model of the sediment transport mechanism leads to results rather different from those obtained previously by potential-flow analysis.

Toward a turbulent constitutive relation

Abstract: In an attempt to explain the failure of the various pure homogeneous strain experiments to reach equilibrium (and consequently to support the contention of Townsend of an equilibrium structure of the Reynolds stress dependent only on geometry), the nature of the general Reynolds stress-mean velocity relation is examined. It is shown that if homogeneous flows become asymptotically independent of initial conditions, and if the Reynolds stress bearing structure can be characterized by a single time scale (i.e.–at sufficiently high Reynolds number) then these flows behave like classical non-linear viscoelastic media, with the Reynolds stress structure dependent on the (strain-rate) (time scale) product. Thus, the existence of an equilibrium structure implies the existence of an equilibrium time scale and a universal value of the product. The ideas permitting Reynolds stress and mean velocity to be related are applied to the dissipative structure in homogeneous flows, and it is found that in such flow the time scale never ceases to grow, so that these flows can never reach an equilibrium structure. With the aid of an ad-hoc assumption these flows are examined in some detail, and the results of experiments are predicted with considerable accuracy. It is suggested that (inhomogeneous) flows having an equilibrium time scale may, in the homogeneous limit, be expected to display a universal structure. The small departure from universality induced by the large eddies associated with inhomogeneity may be adequately predicted by this same ad-hoc model.

The effects of gravity modulation on the stability of a heated fluid layer

Abstract: The stability of a horizontal layer of fluid heated from above or below is examined for the case of a time-dependent buoyancy force which is generated by shaking the fluid layer, thus causing a sinusoidal modulation of the gravitational field. A linearized stability analysis is performed to show that gravity modulation can significantly affect the stability limits of the system. In this analysis, much emphasis is placed on qualitative results obtained by an approximate solution, which permits a rather complete stability analysis. A useful mechanical analogy is developed by considering the effects of gravity modulation on a simple pendulum. Finally, some effects of finite amplitude flows are considered and discussed.

On the transition to turbulent convection. Part 1. The transition from two- to three-dimensional flow

Abstract: In a horizontal convecting layer several distinct transitions occur before the flow becomes turbulent. These are studied experimentally for several Prandtl numbers from 1 to 104. Cell size plan form, transitions in plan form, transition to time-dependence, as well as the heat flux, are measured for Rayleigh numbers from 103 to 105. The second transition, occurring at around 12 times the critical Rayleigh number, is one from steady two-dimensional rolls to a steady regular cellular pattern. There is associated with this a discrete change of slope of the heat flux curve, coinciding with the second transition observed by Malkus. Transitions to time-dependence will be discussed in part 2.

Turbulent boundary-layer wall-pressure fluctuations on smooth and rough walls

Abstract: Turbulent boundary-layer wall-pressure measurements were made with ‘pinhole’ microphones three times smaller (relative to a boundary-layer displacement thickness) than microphones used in earlier work. The improved high-frequency resolution permitted examination of the influence of high-frequency eddies on smooth-wall pressure statistics. It was found that the space-time decay rate is considerably higher than previously reported. Measurements of cross-spectral density made with 5 Hz bandwidth filters disclosed low phase speeds at low frequency and small separation. Measurements were repeated on rough walls and parallels were drawn from knowledge of a smooth-wall boundary-layer structure to propose a structure for a rough-wall boundary layer. The effect of independently varying roughness height and separation on the large and small-scale turbulence structure was deduced from the measurements. It was found that roughness separation affected the very large-scale structure, whereas the roughness height influenced the medium and very small-scale turbulence.

The formation of streamwise vorticity in turbulent flow

Abstract: Mean streamwise vorticity in turbulent flow is shown to arise both from mean flow skewing and from the inhomogeneity of anisotropic wall turbulence. The structure of the Reynolds stress tensor is examined in several flows where the latter mechanism predominates. On the basis of a simple model for the anisotropy, the direction of the secondary currents is deduced for the corner boundary layer, the salient edge flow, and in the non-uniform nominally two-dimensional boundary layer.

The approach to normality of the concentration distribution of a solute in a solvent flowing along a straight pipe

Abstract: Taylor (1953, 1954a) showed that, when a cloud of solute is injected into a pipe through which a solvent is flowing, it spreads out, so that the distribution of concentration C is eventually a Gaussian function of distance along the pipe axis. This paper is concerned with the approach to this final form. An asymptotic series is derived for the distribution of concentration based on the assumption that the diffusion of solute obeys Fick's law. The first term is the Gaussian function, and succeeding terms describe the asymmetries and other deviations from normality observed in practice. The theory is applied to Poiseuille flow in a pipe of radius a and it is concluded that three terms of the series describe C satisfactorily if Dt/a2 > 0·2 (where D is the coefficient of molecular diffusion), and that the initial distribution of C has little effect on the approach to normality in most cases of practical importance. The predictions of the theory are compared with numerical work by Sayre (1968) for a simple model of turbulent open channel flow and show excellent agreement. The final section of the paper presents a second series derived from the first which involves only quantities which can be determined directly by integration from the observed values of C without knowledge of the velocity distribution or diffusivity. The latter series can be derived independently of the rest of the paper provided the cumulants of C tend to zero fast enough as t → ∞, and it is suggested, therefore, that the latter series may be valid in flows for which Fick's law does not hold.

Experiments on liquid jet instability

Abstract: The capillary instability of vertical liquid jets of different viscosities have been examined by imposing audio-frequency disturbances. Real time sequences of photographs allow a direct measurement of growth rates of disturbances of various wavelengths. Results show that in general non-linear effects dominate the growth processes. This is in agreement with Yuen's analysis. The growth rate of the difference between the neck and the swell, however, agrees well with the linearized analysis of Rayleigh and Chandrasekhar. The non-linear effect causes a liquid jet to disintegrate into drops with ligaments in between. The sizes of the ligaments decrease with increasing wave-number. The subsequent roll up of the ligament into droplet, the eventual coalescing of the droplet with the main drop and drop oscillation have also been studied.

The solitary wave in water of variable depth

Abstract: Equations are derived for two-dimensional long waves of small, but finite, amplitude in water of variable depth, analogous to those derived by Boussinesq for water of constant depth. When the depth is slowly varying compared to the length of the wave, an asymptotic solution of these equations is obtained which describes a slowly varying solitary wave; also differential equations for the slow variations of the parameters describing the solitary wave are derived, and solved in the case when the solitary wave evolves from a region of uniform depth. For small amplitudes it is found that the wave amplitude varies inversely as the depth.

On the transition to turbulent convection. Part 2. The transition to time-dependent flow

Abstract: The Rayleigh number at which steady convective flow changes to time-dependent flow is determined experimentally for several fluids with Prandtl numbers from 1 to 104 The time dependence is of two forms: (i) a slow tilting of the cell boundary, with time scale of the vertical thermal diffusion time, (ii) an oscillation with a faster time scale determined by the orbit time of the fluid around the cell The nature of this oscillation is one of hot (or cold) spots advected with the original cellular motion At a fixed point in the fluid this produces a time periodic oscillation of the temperature A discrete change of slope of the heat flux curve accompanies this transition As the Rayleigh number is increased, transition to disorder is seen to result from an increase in the frequency and number of these oscillations

Observations and other characteristics of thermals

Abstract: Experiments have been performed to explore the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of thermals which ascend through the fluid environment above a heated horizontal surface. With water as the participating fluid, an electrochemical technique was employed which made the flow field visible and facilitated the direct observation of thermals. Measurements were also made of the fluid temperature above an active site of thermal generation.As seen in flow field photographs, a thermal has a mushroom-like appearance, with a blunted nearly hemispherical cap. At a given heating rate, thermals are generated at fixed sites which are spaced more or less regularly along the span of the heated surface. At these sites, the generation of thermals is periodic in time, thereby validating a prediction of Howard. Both the spatial frequency of the sites and the rate of thermal production increase with increases in heating rate. The break-up Rayleigh number of the conduction layer is shown to be a constant (within the uncertainties of the experiment), which is in accord with Howard's phenomenological model.

The theory of induced voltage electromagnetic flowmeters

Abstract: The performance of an electromagnetic flowmeter head is assessed in terms of a weight vector W such that the output voltage ∝ ∫ v. Wdτ, where v is the velocity and τ the flowmeter volume. The condition curl W = 0 with W → 0 at ∞ is shown to be necessary and sufficient for the velocity to depend only on the flow rate and not on the flow pattern. A class of such ‘ideal’ meters is described. It is shown that meters with point electrodes can never be ideal but may, with considerable complication of the magnetic field, be made immune to asymmetric velocity-profile variations if the flow is rectilinear.

Inertial oscillations in a rotating fluid cylinder

Abstract: A study is described of the forced inertial oscillations appearing in an axially rotating completely filled circular cylinder with plane ends. Excitation is provided by causing the top end to rotate about an axis inclined slightly to the rotation axis. Experiments demonstrate the presence of numerous low mode resonances in a densely spaced range of ratios of net cylinder height to radius in close conformance with linear inviscid theory. Where geometry permits simple corner reflexion, characteristic surfaces are revealed which confirm in part the theoretical predictions concerning their scale and form.Detailed measurements are given of the amplitude at one point within the cylinder for the condition in which the disturbance frequency equals the rotation frequency. Amplitude column height spectra are compared with theoretical estimates, and the evolution of amplitude for the simplest mode of resonant oscillation is studied. A non-linear theory based on the integral energy of large amplitude oscillation is derived whose broad features are in fair quantitative and qualitative agreement with these observations.Some investigation is made of the phenomenon of resonant collapse, in which larger amplitude resonant oscillations, after persisting in an apparently laminar form, degenerate abruptly into a state of agitation and disorder from which they do not recover. It is found that the time for emergence of this collapse after the introduction of the forcing disturbance has a close correspondence with the theoretical period of one ‘evolutionary’ cycle of momentum exchange between the main motion and the secondary oscillation.

A note on Hamilton's principle for perfect fluids

Abstract: A derivation is given of the Eulerian equations of motion directly from the Lagrangian formulation of Hamilton's principle. The circulation round a circuit of material particles of uniform entropy appears as a constant of the motion associated with the indistinguishability of fluid elements with equal density, entropy and velocity. A discussion is given of the Lin constraint, and it is pointed out that, for a barotropic fluid, the variational principle recently suggested by Seliger & Whitham does not permit velocity fields in which the vortex lines are knotted.