Journal of Engineering Mathematics

A layer of very viscous liquid (e.g. tar, molten glass) spans a chasm between two vertical walls. The slow fall or slump of this initially-rectangular liquid bridge is analysed. A semi-analytical solution is obtained for the initial motion, for arbitrary thickness/width ratios. The formal limits of large and small thickness/width ratios are also investigated. For example, the centre section of a thin bridge of liquid of density ρ and viscosity µ, with width 2w and thickness 2h≪2w falls under gravity g at an initial velocity ρgw4/(32μh2). A finite element technique is then employed to determine the slumping motion at later times, confirming in passing the semi-analytical prediction of the initial slumping velocity.

Flow over compliant materials and compliant coatings has been studied for decades because of the potential of using such materials for laminar-flow control. Since boundary layers in most flows of engineering interest are three-dimensional the classic rotating-disk flow geometry, the paradigm for studying three-dimensional boundary layers, has been adapted to investigate flow over compliant rotating disks. This paper reviews the literature on the existing experimental and theoretical research on flow over compliant rotating disks. The article concludes by evaluating the status of the available results and their implications as regards future research routes to investigate the capabilities of compliant materials for laminar-flow control.

The mild-slope equation and modified mild-slope equation (MMSE) have played an important role in modeling the interaction between waves and bathymetries or structures. However, they are implicit equations whose coefficients are defined by an implicit dispersion relation. In this paper, for both two-dimensional bathymetries and three-dimensional axisymmetric bathymetries with piecewise monotonicity and piecewise second-order smoothness, we are able to transform the implicit MMSE into an explicit equation by introducing a new independent variable. Besides, an alternative form of the implicit MMSE is also transformed into an explicit equation under the same assumptions. These explicit equations make it much easier to obtain analytic solutions to the MMSE. As practical examples, two analytic solutions to the present explicit MMSE for wave reflection by a single linear slope and for wave scattering by a submerged circular truncated shoal are constructed.

The main goal of this work is to prove the equivalence of various formulations existing in the current literature which give the governing equations of small displacements superimposed over initial static deformations of thin cylindrical shells. It is shown that the main difference comes from the definition of incremental stress resultants and the dependence of elastic coefficients on initial deformation. When the functional dependence of elastic coefficients on initial deformation is taken into consideration, it is shown that all the derivations are equivalent to each other.

Numerical solutions (obtained using the method of Part I) for incompressible viscous swirling flows through annular diffusers are discussed. Separation of the boundary layer and vortex breakdown are predicted. The prime interest is devoted to investigating the type of separation and the effects on separation of inlet swirl and Reynolds number. Pressure distributions have been calculated and performance parameters evaluated. The effect of separation on performance is also clearly shown.

Engineering materials are generally non-homogeneous, yet standard continuum descriptions of such materials are admissible, provided that the size of the non-homogeneities is much smaller than the characteristic length of the deformation pattern. If this is not the case, either the individual non-homogeneities have to be described explicitly or the range of applicability of the continuum concept is extended by including additional variables or degrees of freedom. In the paper the discrete nature of granular materials is modelled in the simplest possible way by means of finite-difference equations. The difference equations may be homogenised in two ways: the simplest approach is to replace the finite differences by the corresponding Taylor expansions. This leads to a Cosserat continuum theory. A more sophisticated strategy is to homogenise the equations by means of a discrete Fourier transformation. The result is a Kunin-type non-local theory. In the following these theories are analysed by considering a model consisting of independent periodic 1D chains of solid spheres connected by shear translational and rotational springs. It is found that the Cosserat theory offers a healthy balance between accuracy and simplicity. Kunin’s integral homogenisation theory leads to a non-local Cosserat continuum description that yields an exact solution, but does not offer any real simplification in the solution of the model equations as compared to the original discrete system. The rotational degree of freedom affects the phenomenology of wave propagation considerably. When the rotation is suppressed, only one type of wave, viz. a shear wave, exists. When the restriction on particle rotation is relaxed, the velocity of this wave decreases and another, high velocity wave arises.

This paper generalizes earlier authors’ results on the analytical approximation of the singularly perturbed boundary problem describing the eigenoscillations of a thin-walled axisymmetric shell. The asymptotic behavior of the eigenmodes at the clamped ends is studied, and a set of trial functions capturing this behavior is constructed to be used in the Ritz method. Illustrative numerical examples demonstrate a fast convergence so that the eigenmodes are accurately approximated in a uniform metric together with their second-, third-, and fourth-order derivatives. The numerical results are validated by comparing them with an asymptotic eigensolution and computations done by the ANSYS codes based on the finite-element method.