Wind tunnel measurements have been made of the attachment-line boundary layer on a swept wing. The combination of a 4-5 in (114 mm) nose radius and 60° angle of sweep enabled a wide range of values of the parameter V2/(v dU/dx) (denoted here by C*), to be covered, and gave a thick enough boundary layer for the velocity profiles to be accurately measured. Pitot traverses were performed for values of C* from 0·59 × 105 to 3·7 × 105. Without a trip wire fitted the attachment-line flow was laminar over the full range and the measured velocity profiles agreed closely with the theory for an infinite swept wing. With a large trip wire fitted, a transition régime was observed in the range 0·6 × 105 < C* < 1·4 × 105, and at higher values of C* the flow was fully turbulent and showed good agreement with the earlier calculations of Cumpsty and Head. Preston tubes were used for skin friction measurements in fully turbulent conditions and a hot wire was used to explore the development of turbulence in the transition régime.

The discrete element displacement method is used to analyse the instability of flat rectangular plates subjected to arbitrary systems of in-plane loading. Critical load intensities calculated in a range of applications, some of which include discrete reinforcing members, are compared with the predictions of past investigators and demonstrate the accuracy of the procedure.

The displacement effects on a set of five rectangular mouthed pitot tubes of a constant thickness ratio, 0-6, were investigated in fully developed turbulent flow in a plain tube. The results show that the displacement due to shear only, δ1, is given by δ1/b=0.19, where b is the outside thickness of the pitot tube. The additional wall effect is found to have a dependence on Reynolds number or, equivalently, wall shear within the range investigated of 27 500 < Rev < 58 300. The wall effect results may be presented as a single curve, however, if consideration is given to the distance up to which the wall effect is present.

This paper presents the flexure functions of some triangular sections, subjected to terminal loads, obtained by using a simple electric analogy technique. The effect on the flexure function of both the shape of the section and Poisson’s ratio of the material has been investigated; examples also include some interesting doubly-connected sections. Flexibility of the analogy technique is indicated.

Measured characteristics of compressible constant pressure adiabatic turbulent boundary layers are correlated in an incompressible frame of reference with the aid of a modification of the well known Mager compressibility transformation. Quite good data collapse is obtained although the transformation is shown to be deficient in the outer regions of the boundary layer. The results will be used to produce data sheets of constant pressure adiabatic turbulent boundary layer properties.

Vibration characteristics of a linearly tapered cantilever beam and a shaft have been studied by using the lumped inertia force method; a linear displacement distribution is considered over each element. The results are compared with some of those in the literature and with experimental observations. These comparisons indicate that, even using a few elements, a reasonable degree of accuracy can be obtained in the natural frequency, although it is essential to consider more elements in order to determine mode shape accurately.

Theoretical and experimental natural frequencies and modal shapes up to the fifth mode of vibration are given for a straight blade of asymmetrical aerofoil cross-section. The theoretical procedure consists essentially of transforming the differential equations of motion into a set of simultaneous first-order equations and solving them by a step-by-step finite difference procedure. The natural frequency values are compared with results obtained by an analytical solution and with standard solutions for certain special cases. Good agreement is shown to exist between the theoretical results for the various methods presented. The equations of motion are dependent upon the coordinates of the axis of the centre of flexure of the beam relative to the centroidal axis. The effect of variations of the centre of flexure coordinates upon the frequencies and modal shapes is shown for a limited range of coordinate values. Comparison is made between the theoretical natural frequencies and modal shapes and corresponding results obtained by experiment.

An improved reversed-flow formulation of the Galerkin-Kantorovich-Dorodnitsyn multi-moment integral method is presented in this paper. Convergence and accuracy properties of the approximate solutions of the Stewartson lower branch similar flows are given. The approximate solutions obtained with the new formulation for the lower branch similar flows are, in general, more accurate than those obtained with the classical Pohlhausen method or either of the previous formulations used with the GKD method.