A linear theory, based on wide-spacing and high-frequency approximations, is developed to describe resonant behaviour in two-dimensional water-wave problems involving a freely floating half-immersed cylinder in the presence of a vertical rigid wall. The theory is not able to describe the lowest-frequency resonance, but otherwise yields explicit approximations for the locations of resonances in the complex plane and for their corresponding residues. Two problems are investigated in detail: the time-domain motion following a vertical displacement of the cylinder from equilibrium, and the time-harmonic motion of a cylinder that is excited by an incident plane wave.

In an earlier paper (Wan et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 697, 2012, pp. 296–315), the authors showed that a similarity solution for anisotropic incompressible three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, in the presence of a uniform mean magnetic field $\boldsymbol{B}_{0}$, exists if the ratio of parallel to perpendicular (with respect to $\boldsymbol{B}_{0}$) similarity length scales remains constant in time. This conjecture appears to be a rather stringent constraint on the dynamics of decay of the energy-containing eddies in MHD turbulence. However, we show here, using direct numerical simulations, that this hypothesis is indeed satisfied in incompressible MHD turbulence. After an initial transient period, the ratio of parallel to perpendicular length scales fluctuates around a steady value during the decay of the eddies. We show further that a Taylor–Kármán-like similarity decay holds for MHD turbulence in the presence of a mean magnetic field. The effect of different parameters, including Reynolds number, mean field strength, and cross-helicity, on the nature of similarity decay is discussed.

We consider the indirect mechanism for dissipation of short surface waves through their near-resonant interactions with long sub-harmonic waves that are dissipated by the bottom. Using direct perturbation analysis and an energy argument, we obtain analytic predictions of the evolution of the amplitudes of two short primary waves and the long sub-harmonic wave which form a near-resonant triad, elucidating the energy transfer, from the short waves to the long wave, which may be significant over time. We obtain expressions for the rate of total energy loss of the system and show that this rate has an extremum corresponding to a specific value of the (bottom) damping coefficient (for a given pair of short wavelengths relative to water depth). These analytic results agree very well with direct numerical simulations developed for the general nonlinear wave–wave and wave–bottom interaction problem.

The effect of an imposed shear flow on the stability of directionally solidifying binary alloys is investigated. It is shown that without the imposed shear flow the system is dominated by stationary boundary-layer-mode convection, a convection of salt-finger type confined to the solute boundary layer above the melt/mush interface. When the shear flow (no matter how small) is imposed, the boundary-layer mode becomes a longitudinal mode (roll-axis parallel to the imposed flow) propagating in the direction perpendicular to the shear flow, while the modes containing a transverse component are inhibited. As the shear flow becomes large enough, a transverse mode (roll-axis perpendicular to the imposed flow) of very unstable characteristics is induced. This mode, called the morphological mode, can exist even without buoyancy. It is triggered by the flow induced in the mushy layer through the Bernoulli force, a pressure variation resulting from the imposed flow passing along the corrugated melt/mush interface. It, nonetheless, has no relation to the boundary layer instability of the shear flow. The effect of imposed shear flow is so significant that the stability characteristics can be entirely different when the intensity of the imposed flow is larger than a critical value, which is calculated in the present paper.

We present a detailed study of the turbulent wake behind a quarter-ring curved cylinder at Reynolds number $Re=3900$ (based on cylinder diameter and incoming flow velocity), by means of direct numerical simulation. The configuration is referred to as a concave curved cylinder with incoming flow aligned with the plane of curvature and towards the inner face of the cylinder. Wake flows behind this configuration are known to be complex, but have so far only been studied at low $Re$. This is the first direct numerical simulation investigation of the turbulent wake behind the concave configuration, from which we reveal new and interesting wake dynamics, and present in-depth physical interpretations. Similar to the low-$Re$ cases, the turbulent wake behind a concave curved cylinder is a multi-regime and multi-frequency flow. However, in addition to the coexisting flow regimes reported at lower $Re$, we observe a new transitional flow regime at $Re=3900$. The flow field in this transitional regime is dominated not by von Kármán-type vortex shedding, but by periodic asymmetric helical vortices. Such vortex pairs exist also in some other wake flows, but are then non-periodic. Inspections reveal that the periodic motion of the asymmetric helical vortices is induced by vortex shedding in its neighbouring oblique shedding regime. The oblique shedding regime is in turn influenced by the transitional regime, resulting in a unified and remarkably low dominating frequency in both flow regimes. Owing to this synchronized frequency, the new wake dynamics in the transitional regime might easily be overlooked. In the near wake, two distinct peaks are observed in the time-averaged axial velocity distribution along the curved cylinder span, while only one peak was observed at lower $Re$. The presence of the additional peak is ascribed to a strong favourable base pressure gradient along the cylinder span. It is noteworthy that the axially directed base flow exceeded the incoming velocity behind a substantial part of the quarter-ring and even persisted upwards along the straight vertical extension. As a by-product of our study, we find that a straight vertical extension of 16 cylinder diameters is required in order to avoid any adverse effects from the upper boundary of the flow domain.

Nonlinear effects are considered for shallow-water edge waves on beaches with a general depth distribution. The case of uniform depth away from the shoreline is considered in detail. It is shown that the results obtained are in qualitative agreement with those obtained by Whitham (1976) using the full nonlinear theory for a beach of constant slope.

Passive scalar transport in turbulent channel flow subject to spanwise system rotation is studied by direct numerical simulations. The Reynolds number $Re=U_{b}h/\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}$ is fixed at 20 000 and the rotation number $Ro=2\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}h/U_{b}$ is varied from 0 to 1.2, where $U_{b}$ is the bulk mean velocity, $h$ the half channel gap width and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}$ the rotation rate. The scalar is constant but different at the two walls, leading to steady scalar transport across the channel. The rotation causes an unstable channel side with relatively strong turbulence and turbulent scalar transport, and a stable channel side with relatively weak turbulence or laminar-like flow, weak turbulent scalar transport but large scalar fluctuations and steep mean scalar gradients. The distinct turbulent–laminar patterns observed at certain $Ro$ on the stable channel side induce similar patterns in the scalar field. The main conclusions of the study are that rotation reduces the similarity between the scalar and velocity field and that the Reynolds analogy for scalar-momentum transport does not hold for rotating turbulent channel flow. This is shown by a reduced correlation between velocity and scalar fluctuations, and a strongly reduced turbulent Prandtl number of less than 0.2 on the unstable channel side away from the wall at higher $Ro$. On the unstable channel side, scalar scales become larger than turbulence scales according to spectra and the turbulent scalar flux vector becomes more aligned with the mean scalar gradient owing to rotation. Budgets in the governing equations of the scalar energy and scalar fluxes are presented and discussed as well as other statistics relevant for turbulence modelling.

Using a physics-based approach, we infer the impact of the coherence of atmospheric turbulence on the power fluctuations of wind farms. Application of the random-sweeping hypothesis reveals correlations characterized by advection and turbulent diffusion of coherent motions. Those contribute to local peaks and troughs in the power spectrum of the combined units at frequencies corresponding to the advection time between turbines, which diminish in magnitude at high frequencies. Experimental inspection supports the results from the random-sweeping hypothesis in predicting spectral characteristics, although the magnitude of the coherence spectrum appears to be over-predicted. This deviation is attributed to the presence of turbine wakes, and appears to be a function of the turbulence approaching the first turbine in a pair.

The problem of the hydrodynamic interaction of two unequal-sized spheres in a slightly rarefied gas is treated following the singular perturbation scheme of Sone & Onishi (1978), valid at small, but finite, particle Knudsen numbers. In this method the solution to the linearized BGKW transport equation governing the gas molecular motion consists of two parts: one describing a Knudsen layer where the actual microscopic boundary conditions are applied and the other describing a Hilbert region where the Stokes equations of continuum hydrodynamics hold. The Knudsen-layer solution establishes the ‘slip’ boundary conditions for the Stokes equations. Here we clearly distinguish between particle ‘slip’ due to the type of boundary conditions and particle ‘slip’ due to lengthscale effects as measured by the Knudsen number. The present analysis has been carried out to first order in particle Knudsen number for the case of diffuse reflective molecular boundary conditions. General relationships between the first- and zero-order velocity fields, both of which are written in the form of Lamb's (1932) solution to the Stokes equation, are established. It is illustrated how these general relationships can be used to determine the force and torque acting on a single sphere translating and rotating in a slightly rarefied gas. Finally, we have treated the two-sphere problem in a slightly rarefied gas using the twin multipole expansion method of Jeffrey & Onishi (1984). Here again, general relationships are established between the solutions of the first-order fluid velocity field and the zero-order velocity field, the latter being shown to recover Jeffrey & Onishi's results for stick boundary conditions. These general relationships are subsequently used to determine the complete resistance and mobility matrices of the two-sphere system. The symmetric properties of the resistance and mobility matrices are demonstrated for slip boundary conditions, in agreement with the general proof of Landau & Lifshitz (1980) and Bedeaux, Albano & Mazur (1977).

Transitions of flow past a row of square bars placed across a uniform flow are investigated by numerical simulations and the bifurcation analysis of the numerical results. The flow is assumed two-dimensional and incompressible. It is already known that jets coming through gaps between square bars are independent of each other when the pitch-to-side-length ratio of the row is large, whereas the confluence of two or three jets occurs due to a first pitchfork bifurcation from the flow with independent jets when the pitch-to-side-length ratio is small. It is found that confluence of four jets occurs in consequence of the second pitchfork bifurcation from the flow with pairs of jets joined to each other. Bifurcation diagrams of the flow are obtained, which include confluences of double, triple and quadruple jets. Lengths of the twin vortices are evaluated for each flow pattern. The confluences of two, three and four jets are qualitatively confirmed experimentally by flow visualizations.

The flow of a suspension through a bifurcating channel is studied experimentally and by computational methods. The geometry considered is an ‘asymmetric T’, as flow in the entering branch divides to either continue straight or to make a right angle turn. All branches are of the same square cross-section of side length $D$, with inlet and outlet section lengths $L$ yielding $L/D=58$ in the experiments. The suspensions are composed of neutrally buoyant spherical particles in a Newtonian liquid, with mean particle diameters of $d=250~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$ and $480~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{m}$ resulting in $d/D\approx 0.1$ to $d/D\approx 0.2$ for $D=2.4~\text{mm}$. The flow rate ratio $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}=Q_{\Vert }/Q_{0}$, defined for the bulk, fluid and particles, is used to characterize the flow behaviour; here $Q_{\Vert }$ and $Q_{0}$ are volumetric flow rates in the straight outlet branch and inlet branch, respectively. The channel Reynolds number $Re=(\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}DU)/\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}$ was varied over $0<Re<900$, with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}$ the fluid density and viscosity, respectively, and $U$ the mean velocity in the inlet channel; the inlet particle volume fraction was $0.05\leqslant \unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}\leqslant 0.30$. Experimental and numerical results for single-phase Newtonian fluid both show $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$ increasing with $Re$, implying more material tending toward the straight branch as the inertia of the flow increases. In suspension flow at small $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}$, inertial migration of particles in the inlet branch affects the flow rate ratio for particles ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{\mathit{particle}}$) and suspension ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}_{\mathit{suspension}}$). The flow split for the bulk suspension satisfies $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}>0.5$ for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}<0.16$ while $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}=0.16$ crosses from $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}\approx 0.5$ to $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}>0.5$ at $Re\approx 100$. For $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}\geqslant 0.2$, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}<0.5$ at all $Re$ studied. A complex dependence of the mean solid fraction in the downstream branches upon inlet fraction $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}$ and $Re$ is observed: for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}<0.1$, the solid fraction in the straight downstream branch initially decreases with $Re$, before increasing to surpass the inlet fraction at large $Re$ ($Re\approx 500$ for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}=0.05$). At $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}>0.1$, the solid fraction in the straight branch satisfies $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{\Vert }/\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{0}>1$, and this ratio grows with $Re$. Discrete-particle simulations employing immersed boundary and lattice-Boltzmann techniques are used to analyse these phenomena, allowing rationalization of aspects of this complex behaviour as being due to particle migration in the inlet branch.

A vortex placed at a density interface winds it into an ever-tighter spiral. We show that this results in a combination of a centrifugal Rayleigh–Taylor (CRT) instability and a spiral Kelvin–Helmholtz (SKH) type of instability. The SKH instability arises because the density interface is not exactly circular, and dominates at large times. Our analytical study of an inviscid idealized problem illustrates the origin and nature of the instabilities. In particular, the SKH is shown to grow slightly faster than exponentially. The predicted form lends itself for checking by a large computation. From a viscous stability analysis using a finite-cored vortex, it is found that the dominant azimuthal wavenumber is smaller for lower Reynolds number. At higher Reynolds numbers, disturbances subject to the combined CRT and SKH instabilities grow rapidly, on the inertial time scale, while the flow stabilizes at low Reynolds numbers. Our direct numerical simulations are in good agreement with these studies in the initial stages, after which nonlinearities take over. At Atwood numbers of 0.1 or more, and a Reynolds number of 6000 or greater, both stability analysis and simulations show a rapid destabilization. The result is an erosion of the core, and breakdown into a turbulence-like state. In studies at low Atwood numbers, the effect of density on the inertial terms is often ignored, and the density field behaves like a passive scalar in the absence of gravity. The present study shows that such treatment is unjustified in the vicinity of a vortex, even for small changes in density when the density stratification is across a thin layer. The study would have relevance to any high-Péclet-number flow where a vortex is in the vicinity of a density-stratified interface.

The unsteady axisymmetric flow through a circular aperture in a thin plate subjected to harmonic forcing (for instance under the effect of an incident acoustic wave) is a classical problem first considered by Howe (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, vol. 366, 1979, pp. 205–223), using an inviscid model. The purpose of this work is to reconsider this problem through a numerical resolution of the incompressible linearized Navier–Stokes equations (LNSE) in the laminar regime, corresponding to $Re=[500,5000]$. We first compute a steady base flow which allows us to describe the vena contracta phenomenon in agreement with experiments. We then solve a linear problem allowing us to characterize both the spatial amplification of the perturbations and the impedance (or equivalently the Rayleigh conductivity), which is a key quantity to investigate the response of the jet to acoustic forcing. Since the linear perturbation is characterized by a strong spatial amplification, the numerical resolution requires the use of a complex mapping of the axial coordinate in order to enlarge the range of Reynolds number investigated. The results show that the impedances computed with $Re\gtrsim 1500$ collapse onto a single curve, indicating that a large Reynolds number asymptotic regime is effectively reached. However, expressing the results in terms of conductivity leads to substantial deviation with respect to Howe’s model. Finally, we investigate the case of finite-amplitude perturbations through direct numerical simulations (DNS). We show that the impedance predicted by the linear approach remains valid for amplitudes up to order $10^{-1}$, despite the fact that the spatial evolution of the perturbations in the jet is strongly nonlinear.

We report on new experiments designed to investigate bed destabilization processes in a two-dimensional wave flume physical model of a beach. The mobile bed consists of non-cohesive granular material of low density. The wave conditions are provided by repeating a cycle of waves made of two bichromatic groups of different period. The horizontal and vertical velocities are acoustically profiled vertically from free-stream elevation down to the still bed level in the surf zone. Additional measurements of the fluid pressure at positions closely aligned horizontally and vertically in and slightly above the sediment bed are undertaken. Mobile bed interfaces, still bed and top interface, are detected via acoustic and optical methods. Both methods are cross-compared and give similar results. Flow turbulence over the bed is analysed, the Reynolds turbulent shear stress is found negligible compared to the orbital flow induced momentum diffusion. The shear stress and the horizontal pressure gradient are computed at near-bed elevation and used in the bed incipient plug flow model of Sleath (Cont. Shelf Res., vol. 19 (13), 1999, pp. 1643–1664). Both the model and the measurements confirm that destabilization occurs when the non-dimensional pressure gradient (or Sleath number) exceeds the threshold value of 0.3 which is simultaneous with strong flow acceleration. The near-bottom fluid shear stress detected during these flow accelerations at steep wave fronts is found experimentally to be negative, which is retrieved with an unsteady plug flow model. This is suggesting that the fluid above the bed resists the sediment layer motion at these particular phases.