Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a common vascular disease among the adult population, forms in the portion of the aorta below the renal arteries and upstream of its bifurcation into the two iliac arteries. While the precise cause of this vascular disease is still unknown, it is believed to be multi-factorial and predominantly degenerative, arising through a complex interplay among several biological factors as well as from specific local changes in the haemodynamic stresses on the vessel's wall. Using a simple mechanical model to simulate the difference in the stiffness of the aorta and iliac arteries, Duclaux, Gallaire & Clanet (J. Fluid Mech., 2010, this issue, vol. 664, pp. 5–32) propose a scaling argument for the transition between homogeneous and inhomogeneous deformation of an elastic tubular membrane that offers a plausible explanation for the observed localization of the AAAs. While neglecting long-term tissue remodelling and other important biological processes, the fluid mechanics model of Duclaux et al. (2010) appears to be consistent with some known associated risk factors.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are a dilatation of the aorta, localized preferentially above the bifurcation of the iliac arteries, which increases in time. Understanding their localization and growth rate remain two open questions that can have either a biological or a physical origin. In order to identify the respective role of biological and physical processes, we address in this article these questions of the localization and growth using a simplified physical experiment in which water (blood) is pumped periodically (amplitude a, pulsation ω) in an elastic membrane (aorta) (length L, cross-section A0 and elastic wave speed c0) and study the deformation of this membrane while decharging in a rigid tube (iliac artery; hydraulic loss K). We first show that this pulsed flow either leads to a homogenous deformation or inhomogenous deformation depending on the value of the non-dimensional parameter c02/(aLω2K). These different regimes can be related to the aneurysm locations. In the second part, we study the growth of aneurysms and show that they only develop above a critical flow rate which scales as A0c0/.

Measurements of the near-wall velocity field of the flow over cylinders aligned with a uniform flow are presented. The broader objective of this investigation was to quantify and understand the role of transverse curvature in the limit as cylinder diameter approaches zero. The specific goal was to begin with a turbulent boundary layer over a larger radius cylinder and see what happens as the radius is reduced. Spatially and temporally resolved digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) measurements were made on three different radius cylinders, 0.14 cm ≤ a ≤ 3.05 cm, extending along the length of a large free-surface water tunnel. Mean and fluctuating profiles are presented at a fixed streamwise location and free-stream speed. For the first time, spatially resolved measurements were made very close to the wall, permitting direct determination of wall shear stress, i.e. uτ, from near-wall velocity profiles. The measurements revealed a region close to the wall for small radii where the mean streamwise velocity profile is inflectional. This has significant implications on assumptions regarding what happens in the limit of a vanishing cylinder radius.

The linear response to stochastic and optimal harmonic forcing of small coherent perturbations to the turbulent channel mean flow is computed for Reynolds numbers ranging from Reτ = 500 to 20000. Even though the turbulent mean flow is linearly stable, it is nevertheless able to sustain large amplifications by the forcing. The most amplified structures consist of streamwise-elongated streaks that are optimally forced by streamwise-elongated vortices. For streamwise-elongated structures, the mean energy amplification of the stochastic forcing is found to be, to a first approximation, inversely proportional to the forced spanwise wavenumber while it is inversely proportional to its square for optimal harmonic forcing in an intermediate spanwise wavenumber range. This scaling can be explicitly derived from the linearized equations under the assumptions of geometric similarity of the coherent perturbations and of logarithmic base flow. Deviations from this approximate power-law regime are apparent in the pre-multiplied energy amplification curves that reveal a strong influence of two different peaks. The dominant peak scales in outer units with the most amplified spanwise wavelength of λz ≈ 3.5h, while the secondary peak scales in wall units with the most amplified λz+ ≈ 80. The associated optimal perturbations are almost independent of the Reynolds number when, respectively, scaled in outer and inner units. In the intermediate wavenumber range, the optimal perturbations are approximatively geometrically similar. Furthermore, the shape of the optimal perturbations issued from the initial value, the harmonic forcing and the stochastic forcing analyses are almost indistinguishable. The optimal streaks corresponding to the large-scale peak strongly penetrate into the inner layer, where their amplitude is proportional to the mean-flow profile. At the wavenumbers corresponding to the large-scale peak, the optimal amplifications of harmonic forcing are at least two orders of magnitude larger than the amplifications of the variance of stochastic forcing and both increase with the Reynolds number. This confirms the potential of the artificial forcing of optimal large-scale streaks for the flow control of wall-bounded turbulent flows.

The analysis of the instabilities in an unsteady turbulent flow is undertaken using a triple decomposition to distinguish between the time-averaged field, a coherent wave and the remaining turbulent scales of motion. The stability properties of the coherent scale are of interest. Previous studies have relied on prescribed constants to close the equations governing the evolution of the coherent wave. Here we propose an approach where the model constants are determined only from the statistical measures of the unperturbed velocity field. Specifically, a nonlinear eddy-viscosity model is used to close the equations, and is a generalisation of earlier linear eddy-viscosity closures. Unlike previous models the proposed approach does not assume the same dissipation rate for the time- and phase-averaged fields. The proposed approach is applied to a previously published turbulent channel flow, which was harmonically perturbed by two vibrating ribbons located near the channel walls. The response of the flow was recorded at several downstream stations by phase averaging the probe measurements at the same frequency as the forcing. The experimentally measured growth rates and velocity profiles, are compared to the eigenvalues and eigenvectors resulting from the stability analysis undertaken herein. The modes recovered from the solution of the eigenvalue problem, using the nonlinear eddy-viscosity model, are shown to capture the experimentally measured spatial decay rates and mode shapes of the coherent scale.

A rotating magnetic field (RMF) is used in crystal growth applications during the solidification process in order to improve the crystal quality. Its influence on the convective flows in molten metals and on their stability is studied here in the case of a horizontal infinite cylindrical channel subjected to a longitudinal temperature gradient. The steady convective flows, which correspond to the usual longitudinal counterflow structure, with four vortices in the cross-section for non-zero Prandtl number, Pr, are modified by the RMF (parametrized by the magnetic Taylor number Tam). For zero Prandtl number, the flow in the cross-section corresponds to circular streamlines and the longitudinal flow structure is moved in the direction of the magnetic field rotation, with a decrease in its intensity and an asymptotic variation as 1/Tam. For non-zero Prandtl numbers, depending on the respective values of Tam on one side and Prandtl and Grashof numbers on the other side, different structures ranging from the circular streamlines with transport by rotation of the longitudinal velocity and the temperature field, to the more usual counterflow structure almost insensitive to the RMF with four cross-section vortices, can be obtained. The decrease in the flow intensity with increasing Tam is also delayed for non-zero Pr, but the same asymptotic limit is eventually reached. The stability analysis of these convective flows for Tam = 0 shows a steep increase of the thresholds around Pr = Prt,0 ≈ 3 × 10−4, corresponding to the transition between the usual counterflow shear mode and a new sidewall shear mode. This transition is still present with an RMF, but it occurs for smaller Pr values as Tam is increased. Strong stabilizing effects of the rotating magnetic field are found for Pr < Prt,0, particularly for Pr = 0 where an exponential increase of the threshold with Tam is found. For Pr > Prt,0 (i.e. in the domain where the sidewall instability is dominant), in contrast, the stabilization by the RMF is weak.

The modulational instability of gravity wave trains on the surface of water acted upon by wind and under influence of viscosity is considered. The wind regime is that of validity of Miles' theory and the viscosity is small. By using a perturbed nonlinear Schrödinger equation describing the evolution of a narrow-banded wavepacket under the action of wind and dissipation, the modulational instability of the wave group is shown to depend on both the frequency (or wavenumber) of the carrier wave and the strength of the friction velocity (or the wind speed). For fixed values of the water-surface roughness, the marginal curves separating stable states from unstable states are given. It is found in the low-frequency regime that stronger wind velocities are needed to sustain the modulational instability than for high-frequency water waves. In other words, the critical frequency decreases as the carrier wave age increases. Furthermore, it is shown for a given carrier frequency that a larger friction velocity is needed to sustain modulational instability when the roughness length is increased.

Results are reported of an experimental investigation into the motion of a heavy cylinder free to move inside a water-filled drum rotating around its horizontal axis. The cylinder is observed to either co-rotate or, counter-intuitively, counter-rotate with respect to the rotating drum. The flow was measured with particle image velocimetry, and it was found that the inner cylinder significantly altered the bulk flow field from the solid-body rotation found for a fluid-filled drum. In the counter-rotation case, the generated lift force allowed the cylinder to freely rotate without contact with the drum wall. Drag and lift coefficients of the freely counter-rotating cylinder were measured over a wide range of Reynolds numbers, 2500 < Re < 25000, dimensionless rotation rates, 0.0 < α < 1.2, and gap to cylinder diameter ratios 0.003 < G/2a < 0.5. Drag coefficients were consistent with previous measurements on a cylinder in a uniform flow. However, for the lift coefficient, considerably larger values were observed in the present measurements. We found the enhancement of the lift force to be mainly caused by the vicinity of the wall.

An electrostatic model is developed for osmotic flow across a layer consisting of identical circular cylinders with a fixed surface charge, aligned parallel to each other so as to form an ordered hexagonal arrangement. The expression of the osmotic reflection coefficient is derived for spherical solutes with a fixed surface charge suspended in an electrolyte, based on low-Reynolds-number hydrodynamics and a continuum, point-charge description of the electric double layers. The repulsive electrostatic interaction between the surface charges with the same sign on the solute and the cylinders is shown to increase the exclusion region of solute from the cylinder surface, which enhances the osmotic flow. Applying the present model to the study of osmotic flow across the endothelial surface glycocalyx of capillary walls has revealed that this electrostatic model could account well for the reflection coefficients measured for charged macromolecules, such as albumin, in the physiological range of charge density and ion concentration.

Direct numerical simulation was performed on an incompressible, smooth flat-plate boundary layer at unit molecular Prandtl number and constant surface temperature under free-stream periodically passing turbulent planar wakes over the momentum thickness Reynolds number range of 80 ≤ Reθ ≤ 1850. This inhomogeneous free-stream wake perturbation source with mean deficit differs markedly from the isotropic turbulent patch used in the previous studies of Wu & Moin (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 630, 2009, p. 5; Phys. Fluids, vol. 22, 2010, 085105). Preponderance of hairpin vortices is observed in both the transitional and turbulent regions of the boundary layer. In particular, the internal structure of merged turbulent spots is a hairpin forest; the internal structure of infant turbulent spots is a hairpin packet. Although more chaotic in the turbulent region, numerous hairpin vortices are readily detected in both the near-wall and outer regions of the boundary layer up to Reθ = 1850. This suggests that the hairpin vortices in the higher-Reynolds-number region are not simply the aged hairpin forests convected from the upstream transitional region. Temperature iso-surfaces in the companion thermal boundary layer are found to be a useful tracer in identifying boundary-layer hairpin vortex structures. Total shear stress overshoots wall shear stress in the transitional region and the excess relaxes gradually in the downstream turbulent region. This overshoot is shown to be associated with a localized streamwise acceleration of the streamwise velocity component. Breakdown of the wake-perturbed laminar boundary layer is closely related to the formation of hairpin packets out of quasi-streamwise vortices. Mean and second-order statistics are in good agreement with previous data on the standard turbulent boundary layer. Downstream of transition, normalized root-mean-square (r.m.s.) wall-shear-stress intensity shows almost no variation with Reθ, whereas normalized r.m.s. wall-pressure intensity increases slightly. Taken together with the previous results of Wu & Moin, the generality of the following three phenomena in quasi-standard boundary layers can be reasonably established, namely, preponderance of hairpin vortices in the transitional as well as in the turbulent regions up to Reθ = 1850, transitional total shear stress overshoot, and a laminar-layer breakdown process closely tied to the formation of hairpin packets.

The study investigates creeping flow-induced alteration in the permeability of deformable particle systems. Low-Reynolds-number transversal flow through random arrays of aligned cylinders is considered by means of a combined methodology of directly solving the two-dimensional (2D) Stokes equations for the flow in the vicinity of two particles and minimising the dissipation rate in a system comprising thousands of particles. The results demonstrate that the more compact the system, the greater the possible relative change of permeability when a high flow rate is applied. The permeability of large random arrays always increases when increasing the flow rate, which is most apparent in compact systems with equal-sized particles. The permeability can sometimes decrease but only in structured or small systems.

In contrast to completely open systems, laterally confined domains can sustain localized, truly trapped modes with nominally zero radiation loss. These discrete resonant modes cannot be excited linearly by the continuous propagating duct modes due to symmetry constraints. If the symmetry of the geometry is broken the trapped modes become highly localized quasi-trapped modes which can interfere with the propagating duct modes. The resulting narrowband Fano resonances with resonance and antiresonance features are a generic phenomenon in all scattering problems with multiple resonant pathways. This paper deals with the classical scattering of acoustic waves by various obstacles such as hard-walled single and multiple circular cylinders or rectangular and wedge-like screens in a two-dimensional duct without mean flow. The transmission and reflection coefficients as well as the (complex) resonances are computed numerically by means of the finite-element method in conjunction with two different absorbing boundary conditions, namely the complex scaling method and the Hardy space method. The results exhibit the typical asymmetric Fano line shapes near the trapped-mode resonances if the symmetry of the geometry is broken.

We study large-scale kinematic dynamo action due to turbulence in the presence of a linear shear flow in the low-conductivity limit. Our treatment is non-perturbative in the shear strength and makes systematic use of both the shearing coordinate transformation and the Galilean invariance of the linear shear flow. The velocity fluctuations are assumed to have low magnetic Reynolds number (Rem), but could have arbitrary fluid Reynolds number. The equation for the magnetic fluctuations is expanded perturbatively in the small quantity, Rem. Our principal results are as follows: (i) the magnetic fluctuations are determined to the lowest order in Rem by explicit calculation of the resistive Green's function for the linear shear flow; (ii) the mean electromotive force is then calculated and an integro-differential equation is derived for the time evolution of the mean magnetic field. In this equation, velocity fluctuations contribute to two different kinds of terms, the ‘C’ and ‘D’ terms, respectively, in which first and second spatial derivatives of the mean magnetic field, respectively, appear inside the space–time integrals; (iii) the contribution of the D term is such that its contribution to the time evolution of the cross-shear components of the mean field does not depend on any other components except itself. Therefore, to the lowest order in Rem, but to all orders in the shear strength, the D term cannot give rise to a shear-current-assisted dynamo effect; (iv) casting the integro-differential equation in Fourier space, we show that the normal modes of the theory are a set of shearing waves, labelled by their sheared wavevectors; (v) the integral kernels are expressed in terms of the velocity-spectrum tensor, which is the fundamental dynamical quantity that needs to be specified to complete the integro-differential equation description of the time evolution of the mean magnetic field; (vi) the C term couples different components of the mean magnetic field, so they can, in principle, give rise to a shear-current-type effect. We discuss the application to a slowly varying magnetic field, where it can be shown that forced non-helical velocity dynamics at low fluid Reynolds number does not result in a shear-current-assisted dynamo effect.

A dielectric drop is suspended within a dielectric liquid and is exposed to a uniform electric field. Due to polarization forces, the drop deforms from its initial spherical shape, becoming prolate in the field direction. At strong electric fields, the drop elongates significantly, becoming long and slender. For moderate ratios of the permittivities of the drop and surrounding liquid, the drop ends remain rounded. The slender limit was originally analysed by Sherwood (J. Phys. A, vol. 24, 1991, p. 4047) using a singularity representation of the electric field. Here, we revisit it using matched asymptotic expansions. The electric field within the drop is continued into a comparable solution in the ‘inner’ region, at the drop cross-sectional scale, which is itself matched into the singularity representation in the ‘outer’ region, at the drop longitudinal scale. The expansion parameter of the problem is the elongated drop slenderness. In contrast to familiar slender-body analysis, this parameter is not provided by the problem formulation, and must be found throughout the course of the solution. The drop aspect-ratio scaling, with the 6/7-power of the electric field, is identical to that found by Sherwood (J. Phys. A, vol. 24, 1991, p. 4047). The predicted drop shape is compared with the boundary-integral solutions of Sherwood (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 188, 1988, p. 133). While the agreement is better than that found by Sherwood (J. Phys. A, vol. 24, 1991, p. 4047), the weak logarithmic decay of the error terms still hinders an accurate calculation. We obtain the leading-order correction to the drop shape, improving the asymptotic approximation.

The shapes of the velocity and temperature profiles near the horizontal conducting plates' centre regions in turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection are studied numerically and experimentally over the Rayleigh number range 108 ≲ Ra ≲ 3 × 1011 and the Prandtl number range 0.7 ≲ Pr ≲ 5.4. The results show that both the temperature and velocity profiles agree well with the classical Prandtl–Blasius (PB) laminar boundary-layer profiles, if they are re-sampled in the respective dynamical reference frames that fluctuate with the instantaneous thermal and velocity boundary-layer thicknesses. The study further shows that the PB boundary layer in turbulent thermal convection not only holds in a time-averaged sense, but is most of the time also valid in an instantaneous sense.

Nonlinear modulational instability of wavepackets is one of the mechanisms responsible for the formation of large-amplitude water waves. Here, mechanically generated waves in a three-dimensional basin and numerical simulations of nonlinear waves have been compared in order to assess the ability of numerical models to describe the evolution of weakly nonlinear waves and predict the probability of occurrence of extreme waves within a variety of random directional wave fields. Numerical simulations have been performed following two different approaches: numerical integration of a modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation and numerical integration of the potential Euler equations based on a higher-order spectral method. Whereas the first makes a narrow-banded approximation (both in frequency and direction), the latter is free from bandwidth constraints. Both models assume weakly nonlinear waves. On the whole, it has been found that the statistical properties of numerically simulated wave fields are in good quantitative agreement with laboratory observations. Moreover, this study shows that the modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation can also provide consistent results outside its narrow-banded domain of validity.

In this paper, results of laboratory experiments simulating buoyancy-driven coastal currents produced by estuarine discharges into the ocean, are discussed. The responses of the propagation speeds of the currents to increases and decreases of the volumetric discharge rate at the source are investigated. For increasing discharge rate, we find that the mean speed of the current head displays a sharp rise some time after the source discharge condition has changed. In contrast, a decrease of the current speed following a decreasing discharge rate proceeds gradually. The current speed after acceleration or deceleration is found to be equal to the speed that would be expected had the discharge been at the higher or lower rate from the start of the experiment. The relative speed at which the information of the changed discharge condition at the source approaches the advancing current head from upstream, for both increasing and decreasing discharge rates, is found to be approximately one to three times the mean speed of the current. Further, we find that this transmission speed is 0.82±0.20 times the propagation speed of a linear, long interfacial Kelvin wave.

A multiphase hyperbolic model for dynamic and irreversible powder compaction is built. Four important points have to be addressed in this case. The first one is related to the irreversible character of powder compaction. When a granular media is subjected to a loading–unloading cycle, the final volume is lower than the initial one. To deal with this hysteresis phenomenon, a multiphase model with relaxation is built. During loading, mechanical equilibrium is assumed corresponding to stiff mechanical relaxation, while during unloading non-equilibrium mechanical transformation is assumed. Consequently, the sound speed of the limit models are very different during loading and unloading. These differences in acoustic properties are responsible for irreversibility in the compaction process. The second point is related to dynamic effects, where pressure and shock waves play an important role. Wave dynamics is guaranteed by the hyperbolic character of the equations. Phase compressibility as well as configuration energy are taken into account. The third point is related to multi-dimensional situations that involve material interfaces. Indeed, most processes with powder compaction entail free surfaces. Consequently, the model should be able to solve interfaces separating pure fluids and granular mixtures. Finally, the fourth point is related to gas permeation that may play an important role in some specific powder compaction situations. This poses the difficult question of multiple-velocity description. These four points are considered in a unique model fitting the frame of multiphase theory of diffuse interfaces (Saurel & Abgrall, J. Comput. Phys., vol. 150, 1999, p. 425; Kapila et al., Phys. Fluids, vol. 13, 2001, p. 3002; Saurel et al., J. Comput. Phys., vol. 228, 2009, p. 1678). The ability of the model to deal with these various effects is validated on basic situations, where each phenomenon is considered separately. Except for the material EOS (hydrodynamic and granular pressures and energies), which are determined on the basis of separate experiments found in the literature, the model is free of adjustable parameter.

To bridge quasi-geostrophic dynamics and its discrete representation by a series of piecewise constant potential vorticity (PV), the dispersion relation for the Rossby wave in the single-layer β-plane is compared with that for the normal mode of edge waves straddling an infinite series of PV discontinuities (‘PV staircase’). It is shown that the edge waves over evenly spaced, uniform-height PV steps converge to the Rossby wave on the β-plane as Δ → 0, L → 0, Δ/L = βeff (Δ, L and βeff are the step size, step separation and the effective β, respectively), whereas they reduce to the single-step edge wave in the short-wave limit. For sufficiently small step separations, the difference in the phase velocities of the edge wave and the Rossby wave scales as O(L2). Two effects of increasing L on the zonal propagation are identified: (i) increased phase and group velocities in the short-wave limit due to an increased zonal wind at the PV steps and (ii) decreased phase and group velocities in the long-wave limit due to a decreased effective meridional tilt of the mode. The reduced tilt also severely limits the meridional group propagation. The relationship between the edge wave mode and the finite-difference approximation to the Rossby wave is also discussed.

Two-dimensional gyrokinetics is a simple paradigm for the study of kinetic magnetised plasma turbulence. In this paper, we present a comprehensive theoretical framework for this turbulence. We study both the inverse and direct cascades (the ‘dual cascade’), driven by a homogeneous and isotropic random forcing. The key characteristic length of gyrokinetics, the Larmor radius, divides scales into two physically distinct ranges. For scales larger than the Larmor radius, we derive the familiar Charney–Hasegawa–Mima equation from the gyrokinetic system, and explain its relationship to gyrokinetics. At scales smaller than the Larmor radius, a dual cascade occurs in phase space (two dimensions in position space plus one dimension in velocity space) via a nonlinear phase-mixing process. We show that at these sub-Larmor scales, the turbulence is self-similar and exhibits power-law spectra in position and velocity space. We propose a Hankel-transform formalism to characterise velocity-space spectra. We derive the exact relations for third-order structure functions, analogous to Kolmogorov's four-fifths and Yaglom's four-thirds laws and valid at both long and short wavelengths. We show how the general gyrokinetic invariants are related to the particular invariants that control the dual cascade in the long- and short-wavelength limits. We describe the full range of cascades from the fluid to the fully kinetic range.