Rarely do intra-cellular flows amount to much: cells are small, and so are their Reynolds numbers. The extraordinarily large cells of the Characean algae provide a fascinating counter-example, as their geometry precludes the standard methods of distributing food and waste. van de Meent et al. (J. Fluid Mech., 2010, this issue, vol. 642, pp. 5–14) present nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) velocimetry measurements of the fluid flow within individual living cells, which agree quantitatively with their fluid mechanical model and confirm a long-standing hypothesis. In addition to biomimetic parallels with microfluidic labs on chips, this work showcases NMR velocimetry as an under-appreciated but immensely powerful technique. The non-invasive tracer-free high-resolution flow measurements it enables – even in opaque and heterogeneous fluids – should find wide application.

In the giant cylindrical cells found in Characean algae, multitudes of the molecular motor myosin transport the cytoplasm along opposing spiralling bands covering the inside of the cell wall, generating a helical shear flow in the large central vacuole. It has been suggested that such flows enhance mixing within the vacuole (van de Meent, Tuval & Goldstein, Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 101, 2008, paper no. 178102) and thereby play a role in regulating metabolism. For this to occur the membrane that encloses the vacuole, namely the tonoplast, must transmit efficiently the hydrodynamic shear generated in the cytoplasm. Existing measurements of streaming flows are of insufficient spatial resolution and extent to provide tests of fluid mechanical theories of such flows and information on the shear transmission. Here, using magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV), we present the first measurements of cytoplasmic streaming velocities in single living cells. The spatial variation of the longitudinal velocity field in cross-sections of internodal cells of Chara corallina is obtained with spatial resolution of 16 μm and is shown to be in quantitative agreement with a recent theoretical analysis (Goldstein, Tuval & van de Meent, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 105, 2008, p. 3663) of rotational cytoplasmic streaming driven by bidirectional helical forcing in the cytoplasm, with direct shear transmission by the tonoplast. These results highlight the open problem of understanding tonoplast motion induced by streaming. Moreover, this study suggests the suitability of MRV in the characterization of streaming flows in a variety of eukaryotic systems and for microfluidic phenomena in general.

Measurements of fluctuations and convection patterns in horizontal layers of fluid heated from below and near the onset of Rayleigh–Bénard convection (RBC) are reported under conditions where the fluid properties vary strongly over the temperature range ΔT = Tb − Tt (Tb and Tt are the temperatures at the bottom and top of the sample, respectively). To facilitate a comparison with the data, the theory of Busse (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 30, 1967, p. 625) of these so called non-Oberbeck–Boussinesq (NOB) effects, which applies to the case of relatively weak (and linear) temperature dependences, was extended to arbitrary variations with temperature. It is conceptually useful to divide the variations with temperature of the fluid properties into two disjunct parts. One part is chosen so that it preserves the reflection symmetry of the system about the horizontal midplane, while the remainder breaks that symmetry. The latter, exclusively considered by Busse, leads (in contrast to the formation of the typical convection rolls in RBC) to hexagons immediately above the transition to convection at the critical temperature difference ΔTc. The symmetric part, on the other hand, does not prevent the bifurcation to rolls, but may become very important for the determination of ΔTc. In the experiment the fluid was sulfur hexafluoride at temperatures above but close to the gas–liquid critical point, where all fluid properties vary strongly with temperature. All measurements were done along isobars by varying ΔT. Patterns were observed above onset (ΔT ≳ ΔTc), while for the conduction state at ΔT < ΔTc there were only fluctuations induced by Brownian motion. When the mean temperature Tm = (Tb + Tt)/2 was such that the density ρ at Tm was equal to the critical density ρ*, the mirror symmetry about the horizontal midplane of the sample was essentially preserved. In that case, as expected, we found a direct transition to rolls and the critical temperature difference ΔTc was considerably shifted compared to the critical value ΔTc,OB in the absence of NOB effects. When, on the other hand, Tm was not located on the critical isochore, the NOB effects broke the reflection symmetry and led to a hysteretic transition from fluctuations to hexagonal patterns. In this latter case the hexagonal pattern, the observed hysteresis at onset and the transition from hexagons to rolls at larger ΔT were consistent with the ‘classical’ predictions by Busse.

A model is developed for a turbulent plume with heterogeneous chemical reaction rising in an unbounded environment. The chemical reaction, which may generate or deplete buoyancy in the plume, occurs at the interface between two phases, a continuous phase and a dispersed one. We study the case in which a buoyant reactant is released at the source and forms the dispersed phase, consisting of very small bubbles, droplets or particles. Once in contact with the ambient fluid, a first-order irreversible reaction takes place at the surface of the, for example, droplets. The behaviour of this plume in a uniform and stratified environment is examined. We show that the dynamics of a pure plume with such heterogeneous reaction is completely determined by the ratio of the environmental buoyancy frequency N and a frequency parameter associated with the chemical reaction, G. The group G is a measure of the ability of the reaction to generate buoyancy in the plume. In a uniform environment, the sign of parameter G fully determines the plume motion. When the reaction generates buoyancy (positive G) the motion is unbounded, whilst when reaction depletes buoyancy (negative G) the plume reaches a level of neutral buoyancy. A relation for this neutral buoyancy level as a function of the initial buoyancy flux of the plume and G is calculated. Our theoretical predictions compared well with experimental results using a plume of calcium carbonate particles descending in an acidic aqueous solution. In a stratified environment, the motion of the plume is always bounded, irrespective of the magnitude of G, and we determine the level of maximum buoyancy flux, as well as those of zero buoyancy and zero momentum as a function of N/G. Finally, our model is applied to study the dynamics of a localized release of carbon dioxide in the ocean.

Direct numerical simulation is used to study the development of a single laminar vortex ring as it impinges on a free surface directly from below. We consider the limiting case in which the Froude number approaches zero and the surface can be modelled with a stress-free rigid and impermeable boundary. We find that as the ring expands in the radial direction close to the surface, the natural Tsai–Widnall–Moore–Saffman (TWMS) instability is superseded by the development of the Crow instability. The Crow instability is able to further amplify the residual perturbations left by the TWMS instability despite being of differing radial structure and alignment. This occurs through realignment of the instability structure and shedding of a portion of its outer vorticity profile. As a result, the dominant wavenumber of the Crow instability reflects that of the TWMS instability, and is dependent upon the initial slenderness ratio of the ring. At higher Reynolds number a short-wavelength instability develops on the long-wavelength Crow instability. The wavelength of the short waves is found to vary around the ring dependent on the local displacement of the long waves.

We model the swimming of a finite body in a vortex street using vortex sheets distributed along the body and in a wake emanating from its trailing edge. We determine the magnitudes and distributions of vorticity and pressure loading on the body as functions of the strengths and spacings of the vortices. We then consider the motion of a flexible body clamped at its leading edge in the vortex street as a model for a flag in a vortex street and find alternating bands of thrust and drag for varying wavenumber. We consider a flexible body driven at its leading edge as a model for tail-fin swimming and determine optimal motions with respect to the phase between the body's trailing edge and the vortex street. For short bodies maximizing thrust or efficiency, we find maximum deflections shifted in phase by 90° from oncoming vortices. For long bodies, leading-edge driving should reach maximum amplitude when the vortices are phase-shifted from the trailing edge by 45° (to maximize thrust) and by 135° (to maximize efficiency). Optimal phases for intermediate lengths show smooth transitions between these values. The optimal motion of a body driven along its entire length is similar to that of the model tail fin driven only at its leading edge, but with an additional outward curvature near the leading edge. The similarity between optimal motions forced at the leading edge and all along the body supports the high performance attributed to fin-based motions.

Modern thermodynamic models indicate that fluids consisting of complex molecules may display non-classical gasdynamic phenomena such as rarefaction shock waves (RSWs) in the vapour phase. Since the thermodynamic region in which non-classical phenomena are physically admissible is finite in terms of pressure, density and temperature intervals, the intensity of RSWs is expected to exhibit a maximum for any given fluid. The identification of the operating conditions leading to the RSW with maximum intensity is of paramount importance for the experimental verification of the existence of non-classical phenomena in the vapour phase and for technical applications taking advantage of the peculiarities of the non-classical regime. This study investigates the conditions resulting in an RSW with maximum intensity in terms of pressure jump, wave Mach number and shock strength. The upstream state of the RSW with maximum pressure drop is found to be located along the double-sonic locus formed by the thermodynamic states associated with an RSW having both pre- and post-shock sonic conditions. Correspondingly, the maximum-Mach thermodynamic and maximum-strength loci locate the pre-shock states from which the RSW with the maximum wave Mach number and shock strength can originate. The qualitative results obtained with the simple van der Waals model are confirmed with the more complex Stryjek–Vera–Peng–Robinson, Martin–Hou and Span–Wagner equations of state for selected siloxane and perfluorocarbon fluids. Among siloxanes, which are arguably the best fluids for experiments aimed at the generation and measurement of an RSW, the state-of-the-art Span–Wagner multi-parameter equation of state predicts a maximum wave Mach number close to 1.026 for D6 (dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane, [O-Si-(CH3)2]6). Such value is well within the capacity of the measurement system of a newly built experimental set-up aimed at the first-ever demonstration of the existence of RSWs in dense vapours.

The free fall of a liquid mass through vertical tubes with a weakly increasing cross-section induces an acceleration of the upper liquid interface larger than gravity. The phenomenon is well described by a one-dimensional inviscid model. The super acceleration of the upper interface comes from the additional positive pressure gradient caused by the expanding geometry, which adds to the gravity body force. A perturbative expansion of this base solution further accounts for the interface shape and stability. In particular, the positive pressure gradient at the interface makes it unstable, forming a concentrated ‘nipple’ on top of the essentially flat base solution. We discuss the possible connexion of these findings with the problem of wave breaking in free surface flows.

The evolution and decay of a homogeneous flow over random topography in a rotating system is studied by means of numerical simulations and theoretical considerations. The analysis is based on a quasi-two-dimensional shallow-water approximation, in which the horizontal divergence is explicitly different from zero, and topographic variations are not restricted to be much smaller than the mean depth, as in quasi-geostrophic dynamics. The results are examined by comparing the evolution of a turbulent flow over different random bottom topographies characterized by a specific horizontal scale, or equivalently, a given mean slope. As in two-dimensional turbulence, the energy of the flow is transferred towards larger scales of motion; after some rotation periods, however, the process is halted as the flow pattern becomes aligned along the topographic contours with shallow water to the right. The quasi-steady state reached by the flow is characterized by a nearly linear relationship between potential vorticity and transport function in most parts of the domain, which is justified in terms of minimum-enstrophy arguments. It is found that global energy decays faster for topographies with shorter horizontal length scales due to more effective viscous dissipation. In addition, some comparisons between simulations based on the shallow-water and quasi-geostrophic formulations are carried out. The role of solid boundaries is also examined: it is shown that vorticity production at no-slip walls contributes for a slight disorganization of the flow.

Defining and identifying the aeroacoustic sources in a turbulent flow is a great challenge especially for noise control strategy. The purpose of the present study consists in proposing a new methodology to localize regions associated with sound generation. These regions are associated, in the present work, with those of high sensitivity of the acoustic field, using the heuristic argument that modifying the flow in these regions would lead to a very significant change in the radiated noise. The proposed method relies on the efficient coupling between the time-reversal theory applied to the Euler equations and the complex differentiation method to compute the sensitivity variable. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first time that the time-reversal technique is applied to vectorial hydrodynamic equations, in place of the classical scalar wave equation. Subsequently, regions associated with sound generation are related to spatiotemporal events which exhibit the maximum of sensitivity to acoustical disturbances measured in far field. The proposed methodology is then successively tested on three cases for which the nature of the source is different: injection of mass, vibrating surfaces and flow instabilities arising in a plane mixing layer flow. For each test case, the two-dimensional Euler equations are solved using a numerical solver based on a pseudo-characteristics formulation. During these computations flow, variables are stored only at the computational boundaries. These variables are time reversed and relevant information concerning the acoustical disturbances is tagged using complex differentiation in order to lead the sensitivity analysis. The same numerical solver is used to access the evolution of the time-reversed variables. In each test case, the proposed methodology allows to localize successfully zones associated with noise generation.

Natural convection in calm near-shore waters induced by daytime heating or nighttime cooling plays a significant role in cross-shore exchanges with significant biological and environmental implications. Having previously reported an improved scaling analysis on the daytime radiation-induced natural convection, the authors present in this paper a detailed scaling analysis quantifying the flow properties at varying offshore distances induced by nighttime surface cooling. Two critical functions of offshore distance have been derived to identify the distinctness and the stability of the thermal boundary layer. Two flow scenarios are possible depending on the bottom slope. For the relatively large slope scenario, three flow regimes are possible, which are discussed in detail. For each flow regime, all the possible distinctive subregions are identified. Two different sets of scaling incorporating the offshore-distance dependency have been derived for the conduction-dominated region and stable-convection-dominated region respectively. It is found that the scaling for flow in the stable-convection-dominated region also applies to the time-averaged mean flow in the unstable region. The present scaling results are verified by numerical simulations.

Over two decades ago, some numerical studies and laboratory experiments identified the phenomenon of leapfrogging internal solitary waves located on separated pycnoclines. We revisit this problem to explore the behaviour of the near resonance phenomenon. We have developed a numerical code to follow the long-time inviscid evolution of isolated mode-two disturbances on two separated pycnoclines in a three-layer stratified fluid bounded by rigid horizontal top and bottom walls. We study the dependence of the solution on input system parameters, namely the three fluid densities and the two interface thicknesses, for fixed initial conditions describing isolated mode-two disturbances on each pycnocline. For most parameter values, the initial disturbances separate immediately and evolve into solitary waves, each with a distinct speed. However, in a narrow region of parameter space, the waves pair up and oscillate for some time in leapfrog fashion with a nearly equal average speed. The motion is only quasi-periodic, as each wave loses energy into its respective dispersive tail, which causes the spatial oscillation magnitude and period to increase until the waves eventually separate. We record the separation time, oscillation period and magnitude, and the final amplitudes and celerity of the separated waves as a function of the input parameters, and give evidence that no perfect periodic solutions occur. A simple asymptotic model is developed to aid in interpretation of the numerical results.

Friction factor of drag-reducing flow with presence of polymers in a rough pipe has been investigated based on the eddy diffusivity model, which shows that the ratio of effective viscosity caused by polymers to kinematic viscosity of fluid should be proportional to the Reynolds number, i.e. u∗R/ν and the proportionality factor depends on polymer's type and concentration. A formula of flow resistance covering all regions from laminar, transitional and fully turbulent flows has been derived, and it is valid in hydraulically smooth, transitional and fully rough regimes. This new formula has been tested against Nikuradse and Virk's experimental data in both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid flows. The agreement between the measured and predicted friction factors is satisfactory, indicating that the addition of polymer into Newtonian fluid flow leads to the non-zero effective viscosity and it also thickens the viscous sublayer, subsequently the drag is reduced. The investigation shows that the effect of polymer also changes the velocity at the top of roughness elements. Both experimental data and theoretical predictions indicate that, if same polymer solution is used, the drag reduction (DR) in roughened pipes becomes smaller relative to smooth pipe flows at the same Reynolds number.

In this paper, we develop an efficient procedure to solve for the Stokesian fields around a spherical particle in viscous fluid bounded by a cylindrical confinement. We use our method to comprehensively simulate the general creeping flow involving the particle-conduit system. The calculations are based on the expansion of a vector field in terms of basis functions with separable form. The separable form can be applied to obtain general reflection relations for a vector field at simple surfaces. Such reflection relations enable us to solve the flow equation with specified conditions at different disconnected bodies like the sphere and the cylinder. The main focus of this article is to provide a complete description of the dynamics of a spherical particle in a cylindrical vessel. For this purpose, we consider the motion of a sphere in both quiescent fluid and pressure-driven parabolic flow. Firstly, we determine the force and torque on a translating-rotating particle in quiescent fluid in terms of general friction coefficients. Then we assume an impending parabolic flow, and calculate the force and torque on a fixed sphere as well as the linear and angular velocities of a freely moving particle. The results are presented for different radial positions of the particle and different ratios between the sphere and the cylinder radius. Because of the generality of the procedure, there is no restriction in relative dimensions, particle positions and directions of motion. For the limiting cases of geometric parameters, our results agree with the ones obtained by past researchers using different asymptotic methods.

The present paper is devoted to the formation of sand patterns by laminar flows. It focuses on the rhomboid beach pattern, formed during the backswash. A recent bedload transport model, based on a moving-grains balance, is generalized in three dimensions for viscous flows. The water flow is modelled by the full incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with a free surface. A linear stability analysis then shows the simultaneous existence of two distinct instabilities, namely ripples and bars. The comparison of the bar instability characteristics with laboratory rhomboid patterns indicates that the latter could result from the nonlinear evolution of unstable bars. This result, together with the sensibility of the stability analysis with respect to the parameters of the transport law, suggests that the rhomboid pattern could help improving sediment transport models, so critical to geomorphologists.

It has been recently shown that the flow of a Bingham fluid in a channel is always linearly stable (Nouar et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 577, 2007, p. 211). To identify possible paths of transition we revisit the problem for the case in which the idealized base flow is slightly perturbed. No attempt is made to reproduce or model the perturbations arising in experimental environments – which may be due to the improper alignment of the channel walls or to imperfect inflow conditions – rather a general formulation is given which yields the transfer function (the sensitivity) for each eigenmode of the spectrum to arbitrary defects in the base flow. It is first established that such a function, for the case of the most sensitive eigenmode, displays a very weak selectivity to variations in the spanwise wavenumber of the disturbance mode. This justifies a further look into the class of spanwise homogeneous modes. A variational procedure is set up to identify the base flow defect of minimal norm capable of optimally destabilizing an otherwise stable flow; it is found that very weak defects are indeed capable to excite exponentially amplified streamwise travelling waves. The associated variations in viscosity are situated mostly near the critical layer of the inviscid problem. Neutrally stable conditions are found as function of the Reynolds number and the Bingham number, providing scalings of critical values with the amplitude of the defect consistent with previous experimental and numerical studies. Finally, a structured pseudospectrum analysis is performed; it is argued that such a class of pseudospectra provides information well suited to hydrodynamic stability purposes.

There has been a longstanding debate as to whether the large scales in grid turbulence should be classified as of the Batchelor or Saffman type. In the former, the integral scales, u and ℓ, satisfy u2ℓ5 ≈ constant, while in Saffman turbulence we have u2ℓ3 = constant. For strictly homogeneous turbulence the energy decay rates in these two types of turbulence differ, with u2 ~ t−10/7 in Batchelor turbulence and u2 ~ t−6/5 in Saffman turbulence. We present high-resolution measurements of grid turbulence taken in a large wind tunnel. The particularly large test section allows us to measure energy decay exponents with high accuracy. We find that the turbulence behind the grid is almost certainly of the Saffman type, with u2ℓ3 = constant. The measured energy decay exponent, however, is found to lie slightly below the theoretical prediction of u2 ~ t−1.2. Rather we find u2 ~ t−n, with n = 1.13±0.02. This discrepancy is shown to arise from a weak temporal decay of the dimensionless energy dissipation coefficient, εℓ/u3, which is normally taken to be constant in strictly homogeneous turbulence, but which varies very slowly in grid turbulence.

We present experimental results on simultaneous space–time measurements for the gravity wave turbulence in a large laboratory flume. We compare these results with predictions of the weak turbulence theory (WTT) based on random waves, as well as with predictions based on the coherent singular wave crests. We see that the both wavenumber and frequency spectra are not universal and dependent on the wave strength, with some evidence in favour of the WTT at larger wave intensities when the finite-flume effects are minimal. We present further theoretical analysis of the role of the random and coherent waves in the wave probability density function (p.d.f.) and the structure functions (SFs). Analysing our experimental data we found that the random waves and the coherent structures/breaks coexist: the former show themselves in a quasi-Gaussian p.d.f. core and the low-order SFs and the latter in the p.d.f. tails and the high-order SFs. It appears that the x-space signal is more intermittent than the t-space signal, and the x-space SFs capture more singular coherent structures than the t-space SFs do. We outline an approach treating the interactions of these random and coherent components as a turbulence cycle characterized by the turbulence fluxes in both the wavenumber and the amplitude spaces.

The single-mode Richtmyer–Meshkov instability is investigated using a first-order perturbation of the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations about a one-dimensional unsteady shock-resolved base flow. A feature-tracking local refinement scheme is used to fully resolve the viscous internal structure of the shock. This method captures perturbations on the shocks and their influence on the interface growth throughout the simulation, to accurately examine the start-up and early linear growth phases of the instability. Results are compared to analytic models of the instability, showing some agreement with predicted asymptotic growth rates towards the inviscid limit, but significant discrepancies are noted in the transient growth phase. Viscous effects are found to be inadequately predicted by existing models.

The effects of an axial rotation on the turbulent convective flow because of an adverse temperature gradient in a water-filled upright cylindrical vessel are investigated. Both direct numerical simulations and experiments applying stereoscopic particle image velocimetry are performed. The focus is on the gathering of turbulence statistics that describe the effects of rotation on turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection. Rotation is an important addition, which is relevant in many geophysical and astrophysical flow phenomena.

A constant Rayleigh number (dimensionless strength of the destabilizing temperature gradient) Ra = 109 and Prandtl number (describing the diffusive fluid properties) σ = 6.4 are applied. The rotation rate, given by the convective Rossby number Ro (ratio of buoyancy and Coriolis force), takes values in the range 0.045 ≤ Ro ≤ ∞, i.e. between rotation-dominated flow and zero rotation. Generally, rotation attenuates the intensity of the turbulence and promotes the formation of slender vertical tube-like vortices rather than the global circulation cell observed without rotation. Above Ro ≈ 3 there is hardly any effect of the rotation on the flow. The root-mean-square (r.m.s.) values of vertical velocity and vertical vorticity show an increase when Ro is lowered below Ro ≈ 3, which may be an indication of the activation of the Ekman pumping mechanism in the boundary layers at the bottom and top plates. The r.m.s. fluctuations of horizontal and vertical velocity, in both experiment and simulation, decrease with decreasing Ro and show an approximate power-law behaviour of the shape Ro0.2 in the range 0.1 ≲ Ro ≲ 2. In the same Ro range the temperature r.m.s. fluctuations show an opposite trend, with an approximate negative power-law exponent Ro−0.32. In this Rossby number range the r.m.s. vorticity has hardly any dependence on Ro, apart from an increase close to the plates for Ro approaching 0.1. Below Ro ≈ 0.1 there is strong damping of turbulence by rotation, as the r.m.s. velocities and vorticities as well as the turbulent heat transfer are strongly diminished. The active Ekman boundary layers near the bottom and top plates cause a bias towards cyclonic vorticity in the flow, as is shown with probability density functions of vorticity. Rotation induces a correlation between vertical vorticity and vertical velocity close to the top and bottom plates: near the top plate downward velocity is correlated with positive/cyclonic vorticity and vice versa (close to the bottom plate upward velocity is correlated with positive vorticity), pointing to the vortical plumes. In contrast with the well-mixed mean isothermal bulk of non-rotating convection, rotation causes a mean bulk temperature gradient. The viscous boundary layers scale as the theoretical Ekman and Stewartson layers with rotation, while the thermal boundary layer is unaffected by rotation. Rotation enhances differences in local anisotropy, quantified using the invariants of the anisotropy tensor: under rotation there is strong turbulence anisotropy in the centre, while near the plates a near-isotropic state is found.