The first flow visualization experimental results of transition in plane Couette flow are reported. The Couette flow water channel was of an infinite-belt type with counter-moving walls. The belt and channel walls were transparent making it possible to visualize the flow pattern in the streamwise-spanwise plane by utilizing fluid-suspended reflective flakes. Transition was triggered by a high-amplitude pointwise disturbance. The transitional Reynolds number, i.e. the lowest Reynolds number for which turbulence can be sustained, was determined to be 360 ± 10, based on half-channel height and half the velocity difference between the walls. For Reynolds numbers above this value a large enough amplitude of the initial disturbance gave rise to a growing turbulent spot. Its shape and spreading rate was determined for Reynolds numbers up to 1000.

The turbulent structure in plane Couette flow at low Reynolds numbers is studied using data obtained both from numerical simulation and physical experiments. It is shown that the near-wall turbulence structure is quite similar to what has earlier been found in plane Poiseuille flow; however, there are also some large differences especially regarding Reynolds stress production. The commonly held view that the maximum in Reynolds stress close to the wall in Poiseuille and boundary layer flows is due to the turbulence-generating events must be modified as plane Couette flow does not exhibit such a maximum, although the near-wall coherent structures are quite similar. For two-dimensional mean flow, turbulence production occurs only for the streamwise fluctuations, and the present study shows the importance of the pressure-strain redistribution in connection with the near-wall coherent events.

Flow states in plane Couette flow in a spanwise rotating frame of reference have been mapped experimentally in the parameter space spanned by the Reynolds number and rotation rate. Depending on the direction of rotation, the flow is either stabilized or destabilized. The experiments were made through flow visualization in a Couette flow apparatus mounted on a rotating table, where reflected flakes are mixed with the water to visualize the flow. Both short- and long-time exposures have been used: the short-time exposure gives an instantaneous picture of the turbulent flow field, whereas the long-time exposure averages the small, rapidly varying scales and gives a clearer representation of the large scales. A correlation technique involving the light intensity of the photographs made it possible to obtain, in an objective manner, both the spanwise and streamwise wavelengths of the flow structures. During these experiments 17 different flow regimes have been identified, both laminar and turbulent with and without roll cells, as well as states that can be described as transitional, i.e. states that contain both laminar and turbulent regions at the same time. Many of these flow states seem to be similar to those observed in Taylor–Couette flow.

A complex system of waves propagating inside a water column due to the impact of plane shock wave is investigated both experimentally and numerically. Flow features, such as, focusing of expansion waves generating large negative pressure, nucleation of cavitation bubbles, and a re-circulation zone are observed and discussed qualitatively and quantitatively. Experiments are conducted on a 22 mm diametrical water column hit by shock waves with Mach numbers 1.75 and 2.4 in a newly constructed exploding wire facility. A new technique to create a properly shaped, repeatable, large diameter water column with straight walls is presented. Qualitative features of the flow are captured using the shadowgraph technique. With the aid of numerical simulations the wave motions inside the column are analyzed; the spatial location of the expansion wave focusing point and the corresponding negative peak pressures is estimated.

SUMMARYA numerical and an experimental study of the flow of an incompressible fluid in a polar cavity is presented. The experiments included flow visualization, in two perpendicular planes, and quantitative measurements of the velocity field by a laser Doppler anemometer. Measurements were done for two ranges of Reynolds numbers; about 60 and about 350. The stream function-vorticity form of the governing equations was approximated by upwind or central finite-differences. Both types of finite-difference approximations were solved by a multi-grid method. Numerical solutions were computed on a sequence of grids and the relative accuracy of the solutions was studied. Our most accurate numerical solutions had an estimated error of 0 1 per cent and 1 per cent for Re = 60 and Re = 350, respectively. It was also noted that the solution to the second order finite difference equations was more accurate, compared to the solution to the first order equations, only if fine enough meshes were used. The possibility of using extrapolations to improve accuracy was also considered. Extrapolated solutions were found to be valid only if solutions computed on fine enough meshes were used. The numerical and the experimental results were found to be in very good agreement.