Similarity solution

About: Similarity solution is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2074 publications have been published within this topic receiving 59790 citations.

Kinetic theory of a relativistic beam

Abstract: A Fokker–Planck equation is derived to study the evolution of a stable, low‐current beam propagating in a gas‐plasma medium. Small‐angle scattering of the beam particles by the medium causes diffusion in the phase space projected transverse to the direction of propagation. The projected components of dynamical friction vanish. As a result, there is a continued input of energy into the transverse particle motions, which is taken up in expansion against the pinch field. A quasi‐static Bennett equilibrium, with isothermal distribution of transverse momenta, is shown to be a similarity solution of the Fokker–Planck equation with scale radius increasing in accord with Nordsieck’s formula. An H theorem is proved and the Bennett distribution is shown to minimize both H and −dH/dt; hence, it is the time‐dependent asymptotic state. The predicted current profile and radius are shown to be in fair agreement with experiment.

Spreading and instability of a viscous fluid sheet

Abstract: Experiments by Huppert (1982) have demonstrated that a finite volume of fluid placed on an inclined plane will elongate into a thin sheet of fluid as it slides down the plane. If the fluid is initially placed uniformly across the plane, the sheet retains its two-dimensionality for some time, but when it has become sufficiently long and thin, the leading edge develops a spanwise instability. A similarity solution for this motion was derived by Huppert, without taking account of the edge regions where surface tension is important. When these regions are examined, it is found that the conditions at the edges can be satisfied, but only when the singularity associated with the moving contact line is removed. When the sheet is sufficiently elongated, the profile of the free surface shows an upward bulge near the leading edge. It is suggested that the observed instability of the shape of the leading edge is a result of the dynamics of the fluid in this bulge. The related problem of a ridge of fluid sliding down the plane is examined and found to be linearly unstable. The spanwise lengthscale of this instability is, however, dependent on the width of the channel occupied by the fluid, which is at variance with the observed nature of the instability. Preliminary numerical solutions for the nonlinear development of a small disturbance to the position of a straight leading edge show the incipient development of a finger of fluid with a width that does not depend on the channel size, in accordance with the observations.

The Axisymmetric Motion of a Liquid Film on an Unsteady Stretching Surface

Abstract: The axisymmetric motion of a fluid caused by an unsteady stretching surface that has relevance in extrusion process and bioengineering has been investigated. It has been shown that if the unsteady stretching velocity is prescribed by rb/(1 − αt), then the problem admits a similarity solution which gives much insight to the character of solutions. The asymptotic and numerical solutions are obtained and they could be used in the testing of computer codes or analytical models of more realistic engineering systems. The results are governed by a nondimensional unsteady parameter S and it has been observed that no similarity solutions exist for S > 4

Passive scalar dispersion in a turbulent boundary layer from a line source at the wall and downstream of an obstacle

Abstract: Simultaneous measurements of the velocity and scalar concentration fields have been made in the plume emitting from a two-dimensional line source at the wall. The source is one obstacle height, h, downstream of a two-dimensional square obstacle located on the wall of a turbulent boundary layer. These measurements were made in two fluid media: water and air. In both media particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used for the velocity field measurements. For the scalar concentration measurements laser-induced uorescence (LIF) was used for the water flow and Mie scattering diffusion (MSD) for the air flow. Profiles of the mean and root-mean-square streamwise and wall-normal velocity components, Reynolds shear stress and mean and root-mean-square scalar concentration were determined at x = 4h and 6h downstream of the obstacle in the recirculation region and above it in the mixing region. At these streamwise stations the scalar fluxes, uc and vc, were also determined from the simultaneous velocity and scalar concentration field data. Both of these fluxes change sign from negative to positive with increasing distance from the wall in the recirculating region at 4h.A conditional analysis of the data was carried out by sorting them into the eight categories (octants) given by the sign combinations of the three variables: ±u, ±v and ±c. The octants with combinations of these three variables that correspond to types of scalar concentration flux motions that can be approximated by mean gradient scalar transport models are the octants that make the dominant contributions to uc and vc. However, in the recirculating zone, counter-gradient transport type motions also make significant contributions. Based on this conditional analysis, second-order mean gradient models of the scalar and the momentum uxes were constructed; they compare well to the measured values at 4h and 6h, particularly for the streamwise scalar flux, uc.Additional measurements of the velocity and concentration fields were made further downstream of the reattachment location in the wake region of the air flow. The mean velocity deficit profile determined from these measurements at x = 20h compares quite well to a similarity solution profile obtained by Counihan, Hunt & Jackson (1974). Their analysis was extended in the present investigation to the concentration field. The similarity solution obtained for the mean concentration compares well to profiles measured at x = 12h, 15h, and 20h, up to about three obstacle heights above the wall.