The two-dimensional flow around a rotating circular cylinder is studied at Re = 100. The instability mechanisms for the first and second shedding modes are analysed. The region in the flow with a role of ‘wavemaker’ in the excitation of the global instability is identified by considering the structural sensitivity of the unstable mode. This approach is compared with the analysis of the perturbation kinetic energy production, a classic approach in linear stability analysis. Multiple steady-state solutions are found at high rotation rates, explaining the quenching of the second shedding mode. Turning points in phase space are associated with the movement of the flow stagnation point. In addition, a method to examine which structural variation of the base flow has the largest impact on the instability features is proposed. This has relevant implications for the passive control of instabilities. Finally, numerical simulations of the flow are performed to verify that the structural sensitivity analysis is able to provide correct indications on where to position passive control devices, e.g. small obstacles, in order to suppress the shedding modes.

Non-modal analysis determines the potential for energy amplification in stable flows. The latter is quantified in the frequency domain by the singular values of the resolvent operator. The present work extends previous analysis on the effect of base-flow modifications on flow stability by considering the sensitivity of the flow non-modal behaviour. Using a variational technique, we derive an analytical expression for the gradient of a singular value with respect to base-flow modifications and show how it depends on the singular vectors of the resolvent operator, also denoted the optimal forcing and optimal response of the flow. As an application, we examine zero-pressure-gradient boundary layers where the different instability mechanisms of wall-bounded shear flows are all at work. The effect of the component-type nonnormality of the linearized Navier-Stokes operator, which concentrates the optimal forcing and response on different components, is first studied in the case of a parallel boundary layer. The effect of the convective-type non-normality of the linearized Navier-Stokes operator, which separates the spatial support of the structures of the optimal forcing and response, is studied in the case of a spatially evolving boundary layer. The results clearly indicate that base-flow modifications have a strong impact on the Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) instability mechanism whereas the amplification of streamwise streaks is a very robust process. This is explained by simply examining the expression for the gradient of the resolvent norm. It is shown that the sensitive region of the lift-up (LU) instability spreads out all over the flat plate and even upstream of it, whereas it is reduced to the region between branch I and branch II for the TS waves.

A linear stability analysis of the laminar flow in the boundary layer at the bottom of a solitary wave is made to determine the conditions leading to transition and the appearance of turbulence. The Reynolds number of the phenomenon is assumed to be large and a 'momentary' criterion of instability is used. The results show that the laminar regime becomes unstable during the decelerating phase, when the height of the solitary wave exceeds a threshold value which depends on the ratio between the boundary layer thickness and the local water depth. A comparison of the theoretical results with the experimental measurements of Sumer et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 646, 2010, pp. 207-231) supports the analysis

The first bifurcation and the instability mechanisms of shear-thinning and shear-thickening fluids flowing past a circular cylinder are studied using linear theory and numerical simulations. Structural sensitivity analysis based on the idea of a ‘wavemaker’ is performed to identify the core of the instability. The shear-dependent viscosity is modelled by the Carreau model where the rheological parameters, i.e. the power-index and the material time constant, are chosen in the range 0.4