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Spanwise rotating plane Poiseuille flow (RPPF) is one of the canonical flow problems to study the effect of system rotation on wall-bounded shear flows and has been studied a lot in the past. In the present work, a two-dimensional-three-component (2D/3C) model for RPPF is introduced and it is shown that the present model is equivalent to a thermal convection problem with unit Prandtl number. For low Reynolds number cases, the model can be used to study the stability behaviour of the roll cells. It is found that the neutral stability curves, critical eigensolutions and critical streamfunctions of RPPF at different rotation numbers ($Ro$) almost collapse with the help of a rescaling with a newly defined Rayleigh number $Ra$ and channel height $H$. Analytic expressions for the critical Reynolds number and critical wavenumber at different $Ro$ can be obtained. For a turbulent state with high Reynolds number, the 2D/3C model for RPPF is self-sustained even without extra excitations. Simulation results also show that the profiles of mean streamwise velocity and Reynolds shear stress from the 2D/3C model share the same linear laws as the fully three-dimensional cases, although differences on the intercepts can be observed. The contours of streamwise velocity fluctuations behave like plumes in the linear law region. We also provide an explanation to the linear mean velocity profiles observed at high rotation numbers.

Pre-transitional compressible boundary layers perturbed by low-frequency free-stream vortical disturbances and flowing over plates with streamwise-concave curvature are studied via matched asymptotic expansions and numerically. The Mach number, the Görtler number and the frequency of the free-stream disturbance are varied to obtain the neutral stability curves, i.e. curves in the space of the parameters that distinguish spatially growing from spatially decaying perturbations. The receptivity approach is used to calculate the evolution of Klebanoff modes, highly oblique Tollmien–Schlichting waves influenced by the concave curvature of the wall, and Görtler vortices. The Klebanoff modes always evolve from the leading edge, the Görtler vortices dominate when the influence of the curvature becomes significant and the Tollmien–Schlichting waves may precede the Görtler vortices for moderate Görtler numbers. For relatively high frequencies the triple-deck formalism allows us to confirm the numerical result of the negligible influence of the curvature on the Tollmien–Schlichting waves when the Görtler number is an order-one quantity. Experimental data for compressible Görtler flows are mapped onto our neutral-curve graphs and earlier theoretical results are compared with our predictions.

In this paper some approximate results are presented for the problem of the stability of plane Poiseuille flow of a dusty gas, following a formulation given recently by Saffman (1962). It is assumed that the mass concentration of the dust, f, is small, and results are obtained by making a perturbation of the curve of neutral stability for a clean gas, using the approximate solutions given by Stuart (1954). The perturbation equation is expressed in terms of integrals by introducing the adjoint wave function, the calculation of which is described. The integral coefficients were evaluated by numerical integration using a Mercury computer, and the results are illustrated for f = 0.05 by a set of perturbed neutral stability curves at different values of the time relaxation parameter SR varying from 0 to 500. These results, whilst not of great numerical accuracy, are sufficient to show qualitatively how the curve of neutral stability is modified by the presence of the dust.

The experiments described here were designed to illustrate the dynamical behaviour of flexible cylinders in axial flow theoretically examined in Part 1. Rubber cylinders, either clamped or pinned at the upstream end and free at the other, or pinned at both ends, displayed both buckling and oscillatory instabilities when immersed in flowing water of sufficiently high velocity. The conditions of neutral stability were determined in a number of cases and compared with theory. The observations were in substantial agreement with the theory.

This paper deals with the stability of a two-dimensional laminar jet against the infinitesimal antisymmetric disturbance. The curve of the neutral stability in the (α, R)-plane (α, the wave-number; R, Reynolds number) is calculated using two different methods for the different parts of the curve; the solution is developed in powers of (αR)−1 for obtaining the upper branch of the curve and in powers of αR for the lower branch.The asymptotic behaviour of these branches is that for branch I,$\alpha \rightarrow 2, \;\; c \rightarrow \frac{2}{3}$ for $R \rightarrow \infty$; and for branch II, $R \sim 1\cdot12\alpha^{-1|2},\; c \sim 1\cdot 20 \alpha^2$ for α → 0. Some discussion is given on the validity of the basic assumption of the stability theory in relation to the numerical result obtained here.

The Orr-Sommerfeld stability problem has been studied for velocity profiles appropriate to turbulent channel flow. The intent was to provide an evaluation of Malkus's theory that the flow assumes a state of maximum dissipation, subject to certain constraints, one of which is that the mean velocity profile is marginally stable. Dissipation rates and neutral stability curves were obtained for a representative two-parameter family of velocity profiles. Those in agreement with experimental profiles were found to be stable; the marginally stable profile of greatest dissipation was not in good agreement with experiments. An explanation for the apparent success of Malkus's theory is offered.

An experimental investigation of the instability of a laminar air flow over water shows two distinct modes of unstable oscillations as predicted by theory. The Tollmien–Schlichting waves instability could be excited by a ribbon vibrating in the air, and the neutral stability curve determined. The water wave instability mode could be excited by a ribbon vibrating in the water. The growth rates of these waves show only fair agreement with theoretical predictions.