Measurements of wall pressure, and mean and r.m.s. velocities of the confined flow about a disk of 50 % area blockage have been carried out for two Newtonian fluids and four concentrations of a shear-thinning weakly elastic polymer in aqueous solution encompassing a Reynolds-number range from 220 to 138000. The flows of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids were found to be increasingly dependent on Reynolds numbers below 50000, with a decrease in the length of the recirculation region and dampening of the normal Reynolds stresses. At Reynolds numbers less than 25000, the recirculation bubble lengthened and all turbulence components were suppressed with increased polymer concentration so that, at a Reynolds number of 8000, the maximum values of turbulent kinetic energy were 35 and 45% lower than that for water, with 0.2% and 0.4% solutions of the polymer. Non-Newtonian effects were found to be important in regions of low local strain rates in low-Reynolds-number flows, especially inside the recirculation bubble and close to the shear layer, and are represented by both an increase in viscous diffusion and a decrease in turbulent diffusion to, respectively, 6% and 18% of the largest term of the momentum balance with a 0.4 % polymer solution at a Reynolds number of 7700. The asymmetry and unsteadiness of the flow at Reynolds numbers between 400 and 6000 is shown to be an aerodynamic effect which increases in range and amplitude with the more concentrated polymer solutions.

The paper is devoted to the theoretical and experimental investigation of the ring (toroidal) shock wave near the axis of symmetry. The theoretical approach is based upon the Chester–Chisnell–Whitman method. The experimental toroidal shock wave is generated by a novel inducer and visualized by the shadow technique. Attention is paid to the manner of reflection of the shock wave from the axis of symmetry. This reflection appears to be irregular even at small distances from the centre of the ring. This phenomenon is due to the cumulative acceleration of the converging axisymmetric shock front near the axis. The acceleration results in an increase in the incidence angle up to that characteristic of Mach (irregular) reflection.

We demonstrate the existence of a chaotic invariant set of solutions of an idealized model for wind-forced quasi-geostrophic flow over a continental margin with variable topography. The model (originally formulated to investigate mean flow generation by topographic wave drag) has bottom topography that slopes linearly offshore and varies sinusoidally alongshore. The alongshore topographic scales are taken to be short compared to the cross-shelf scale, allowing Hart's (1979) quasi-two-dimensional approximation, and the governing equations reduce to a non-autonomous system of three coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations. For weak (constant plus time-periodic) forcing and weak friction, we apply a recent extension (Wiggins & Holmes 1987) of the method of Melnikov (1963) to test for the existence of transverse homoclinic orbits in the model. The inviscid unforced equations have two constants of motion, corresponding to energy E and enstrophy M, and reduce to a one-degree-of-freedom Hamiltonian system which, for a range of values of the constant G = E − M, has a pair of homoclinic orbits to a hyperbolic saddle point. Weak forcing and friction cause slow variations in G, but for a range of parameter values one saddle point is shown to persist as a hyperbolic periodic orbit and Melnikov's method may be applied to study the perturbations of the associated homoclinic orbits. In the absence of time-periodic forcing, the hyperbolic periodic orbit reduces to the unstable fixed point that occurs with steady forcing and friction. The method yields analytical expressions for the parameter values for which sets of chaotic solutions exist for sufficiently weak time-dependent forcing and friction. The predictions of the perturbation analysis are verified numerically with computations of Poincaré sections for solutions in the stable and unstable manifolds of the hyperbolic periodic orbit and with computations of solutions for general initial-value problems. In the presence of constant positive wind stress τ0 (equatorward on eastern ocean boundaries), chaotic solutions exist when the ratio of the oscillatory wind stress τ1 to the bottom friction parameter r is above a critical value that depends on τ0/r and the bottom topographic height. The analysis complements a previous study of this model (Samelson & Allen 1987), in which chaotic solutions were observed numerically for weak near-resonant forcing and weak friction.

The problem of three-dimensional flows arising from the twist instability of Taylor vortices is investigated numerically in the narrow gap limit of the Taylor–Couette system with nearly corotating cylinders. There are two types of twist vortices: those that do not deform the in– and outflow boundaries of the Taylor vortices and those that do. The latter type are called wavy twist vortices and correspond to class II of Nagata (1986). The stability of the twist vortices with respect to arbitrary infinitesimal disturbances is analysed with the result that the twist solutions are unstable within a large part of the parameter space with respect to Eckhaus and skewed-varicose-type instabilities. An analytical model is described which fits the numerical results on the transition from axisymmetric vortices to unstable twist solutions. The theoretical findings are compared with experimental observations.

Grosch & Salwen (1978) discuss the continuous-spectrum contribution in both temporal and spatial stability problems that are governed by the linear Orr–Sommerfeld equation. Their computed temporal continuum eigenfunctions for the Blasius boundary layer and for a laminar jet profile show surprising differences. This note provides an improved physical understanding of the results through a simple model, and shows that these differences are more apparent than real.

This paper examines the three-dimensional wave packets which are generated by an initially localized pulse disturbance in an incompressible parallel flow and described by a double Fourier integral in the wavenumber space. It aims to clear up some confusion arising from the asymptotic evaluation of this integral by the method of steepest descent. In this asymptotic analysis, the calculation of the eigenvalues can be facilitated by making use of the Squire transformation. It is demonstrated that the use of the Squire transformation introduces branch points in the saddle-point equation that links the physical coordinates to the saddle-point value, regardless of whether the flow is viscous or inviscid. It is shown that the correct branch should be chosen according to the principle of analytic continuation. The saddle-point values for the three-dimensional problem should be considered to be the analytic continuation of those for the two-dimensional case where the saddle-point values can be uniquely determined. The three-dimensional wave packets in an inviscid wake flow are examined; their behaviour at large time is calculated asymptotically by the method of steepest descent in terms of the two-dimensional eigenvalue relation.

The retarded Green's function for the linearized version of the equation of the mixed type governing the potential flow around a rotating helicopter blade or a propeller (with no forward motion) is derived and is shown to constitute the unifying feature of the various existing approaches to rotor acoustics. This Green's function is then used to pinpoint the singularity predicted by the linearized theory of rotor acoustics which signals its experimentally confirmed breakdown in the transonic regime: the gradient of the near-field sound amplitude, associated with a linear flow which is steady in the blade-fixed rotating frame, diverges on the sonic cylinder at the dividing boundary between the subsonic and supersonic regions of the flow. Prom the point of view of the equivalent Cauchy problem for the homogeneous wave equation, this singularity is caused by the imposition of entirely non-characteristic initial data on a space—time hypersurface which, at its points of intersection with the sonic cylinder, is locally characteristic. It also emerges from the analysis presented that the acoustic discontinuities detected in the far zone are generated by the quadrupole source term in the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation and that the impulsive noise resulting from these discontinuities would be removed if the flow in the transonic region were to be rendered unsteady (as viewed from the blade-fixed rotating frame).

There are two separate mechanisms which can generate a boundary flow in a non-rotating, stratified fluid. The Phillips–Wunsch boundary flow arises in a stratified, quiescent fluid along a sloping boundary. Isopycnals are deflected from the horizontal in order to satisfy the zero normal mass flux condition at the boundary; this produces a horizontal density gradient which drives a boundary flow. The second mechanism arises when there is an independently generated turbulent boundary layer at the wall such that the eddy diffusion coefficients decay away from the wall; if the vertical density gradient is non-uniform the greater eddy diffusion coefficients near the wall result in a greater accumulation or diminution of density near the wall. This produces a horizontal density gradient which drives a boundary flow, even at a vertical wall. The turbulent Phillips Wunsch flow, in which there is a vigorous recirculation in the boundary layer, develops if the wall is sloping. This recirculation produces an additional dispersive mass flux along the wall, which also generates a net volume flux along the wall if the density gradient is non-uniform.

We investigate the effect of these boundary flows upon the mixing of the fluid in the interior of a closed vessel. The mixing in the interior fluid resulting from the laminar Phillips–Wunsch-driven boundary flow is governed by \[ \rho_t = \frac{\kappa_{\rm m}}{A}(\rho z A)_z. \] The turbulence-driven boundary flow mixes the interior fluid according to \[ \rho_\frac{1}{A}\left(\kappa_{\rm e}\rho z\int\delta\,{\rm d}s\right)z. \] Here ρ is the density, κm and κe are the far-field (molecular) and effective boundary (eddy) diffusivities, including the dispersion, A is the cross-sectional area of the basin and ∫ δ ds is the cross-sectional area of the boundary layer. The interior fluid is only mixed significantly faster than the rate of molecular diffusion if there is a turbulent boundary layer at the sidewalls of the containing vessel which either (i) varies in intensity with depth in the vessel or (ii) is mixing a non-uniform density gradient. These mixing phenomena are consistent with published experimental data and we consider the effect of such mixing in the ocean.