This work presents an analytical solution for the steady laminar wake generated by a finite wall segment acting as a sink for heat or mass transfer. The classical Lévêque solution is extended to include the wake region downstream of the active surface by employing Laplace transform methods to couple Dirichlet and Neumann boundary value problems through convolution identities. This yields a unified closed-form expression for the scalar field that reduces to the Lévêque result above the sink and provides a new analytical expression for the wake region. Numerical simulations confirm the analytical solution, with errors decreasing systematically under mesh refinement. The derived expressions enable direct calculation of scalar recovery at any point in the wake, providing essential information for designing segmented systems where wake interference between adjacent active elements must be predicted. The solution also serves as a benchmark for numerical methods solving mixed boundary value problems in convective transport.

Negatively electrified liquid cone jets supported on capillary tubes with 30–36 $ \,\unicode{x03BC} \text{m}$ tip diameters are investigated in vacuo with four ionic liquids (ILs) selected for their high electrical conductivity and low viscosity. All four use the same cation 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium$^+$ ($ \text{EMI}^+$), paired with the four anions $\textrm{SCN}^-$, $\text{N}(\text{CN})_2^-$, $\text{C}(\text{CN})_3^-$ and $ \text{BF}_4^-$. Purely ionic (PI) emissions are not unambiguously achieved with any of the four, but are closely approached by all under a broad range of conditions. In this unusual quasi-ionic (QI) regime, drops contribute minimally to the current ($\sim$ 0.5 %–3 %) but substantially to the mass flow. A sharp QI$\rightarrow$PI transition below a critical liquid flow rate has been demonstrated for capillary emitters by Caballero-Perez et al. (2025) J. Propul. Power, for 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium-C(CN)$_3$ (BMI-C(CN)$_3$) by using 15 $\unicode{x03BC}$m capillary tips able to stabilise unusually small liquid flow rates. None of their other 3 ILs achieves the QI regime, indicating the singularity of BMI-C(CN)$_3$ and our four ILs. We focus on the peculiarities of the QI regime, the likely mechanism for the QI$\rightarrow$PI transition and argue that ILs reaching the QI regime will probably also attain the PI regime when sprayed from sufficiently small capillary tips. Paradoxically, while high conductivity and low viscosity appear to favour the QI mode, for a liquid operating in this regime, inverting these properties by lowering the emitter temperature appears to better approach the PI regime.

We investigate the linear stability of a Plateau border and the existence of solitary waves. Firstly, we formulate a new non-orthogonal coordinate system that describes the specific geometry of a Plateau border. Within the framework of this coordinate system, the equations of motion for the fluid potential and free surface are derived. By performing a linear stability analysis we find that the Plateau border is stable under small perturbations. Next, a weakly nonlinear theory is developed, leading to a Korteweg–de Vries equation for the free surface profile. Our weakly nonlinear evolution equation predicts depression solitary waves, such as those observed by Bouret et al. (Phys. Rev. Fluids., 2016, vol. 1 no. 4, p. 043902).

Cavitation inception in the wake of propulsor systems often arises from the interaction between multiple vortices. We use large-eddy simulation (LES) to study cavitation during the canonical interaction of a pair of unequal strength counter-rotating vortices generated in the wake of a hydrofoil pair at a chord-based Reynolds number ($ \textit{Re}$) of $1.7 \times 10^6$. The simulations reproduce the experimental observations by Knister et al. (In 33rd Symposium on Naval Hydrodynamics, Osaka, Japan, 2020) of spatially and temporally intermittent inception events occurring in the weaker vortex. Sinusoidal instabilities representing the Crow instability develop on the weaker vortex beyond one chord length downstream of the hydrofoils, causing it to bend and wrap around the stronger vortex. The inviscid stretching causes a significant reduction of the weaker core pressure and inception occurs as it approaches close to the stronger core. These intermittent inception events correspond to $3{-}4$ fold pressure reduction from the unperturbed value, with the instantaneous pressures reaching $40\,\%{-}60\,\%$ lower than the mean minimum pressure. However, the loss of circulation (${\gt} 20\,\%$) in both cores during the later stages of interaction reduces the possibility of further inception events. Statistical analysis reveals that inception occurs once per Crow cycle and is most likely to occur near the central regions of the Crow wavelength. Conditional averages show that the axial stretching is non-uniform along the weaker vortex axis, with the stretching intensities in the central regions being four times larger than the wavelength-averaged value. Probability distribution analysis shows that only a small portion of the weaker core experiences inception pressures and these regions have relatively lower axial stretching intensities compared with the bulk of the core.

This research investigates the hydrodynamics of a physical boundary transition from free slip to no slip, which usually occurs in ice-jams, large wood and debris accumulation in free-surface flows. Using direct numerical simulation coupled with a volume penalisation method, a series of numerical simulations is performed for an open-channel flow covered with a layer of floating spherical particles, replicating the laboratory set-up of Yan Toe et al. (2025 J. Hydraul. Eng., vol. 151, 04025010). Flow transition from the open channel to the closed channel induces a new boundary-layer development at the top surface, accompanied by a flow separation and an increased bottom shear stress that enhances particle mobility at the bottom. Analysis of a fully developed flow in an asymmetric roughness channel (rough surface at the top boundary and smooth surface at the bottom boundary) also shows that the vertical position of maximum velocity is higher than the position of zero Reynolds shear stress, which supports the experimental observation of Hanjalić & Launder (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 51, 1972, pp. 301–335), demonstrating the shortcoming of traditional turbulence closure models such as the $k{-}\varepsilon$ model. Finally, the stagnation force acting on a particle at the leading edge of the accumulation layer is compared with the analytical prediction of Yan Toe et al. Understanding the flow transition improves the prediction of the stability threshold of the accumulation layer and design criteria for debris-collection devices.

We investigate and model the initiation of motion of a single particle on a structured substrate within an oscillatory boundary layer flow, following a mechanistic approach. By deterministically relating forces and torques acting on the particle to the instantaneous ambient flow, the effects of flow unsteadiness are captured, revealing rich particle dynamics. Laboratory experiments in an oscillatory flow tunnel characterise the initiation and early stages of motion, with particle imaging velocimetry measurements yielding the flow conditions at the motion threshold. The experiments validate and complement results from particle-resolved direct numerical simulations, combining an immersed boundary method with a discrete element method that incorporates a static friction contact model. Within the parameter range just above the motion threshold, the mobile particle rolls without sliding over the substrate, indicating that motion initiation is governed by an unbalanced torque rather than a force. Both experimental and numerical results show excellent agreement with an analytical torque balance including hydrodynamic torque derived from the theoretical Stokes velocity profile, and contributions of lift, added mass and externally imposed pressure gradient. In addition to static and rolling particle states, we identify a wiggling regime where the particle moves but does not leave its original pocket. Our deterministic approach enables prediction of the phase within the oscillation cycle at which the particle starts moving, without relying on empirical threshold estimates, and can be extended to a wide range of flow and substrate conditions, as long as turbulence is absent and interactions with other mobile particles are negligible.