Instabilities are present in all natural fluids from rivers to atmospheres. This book considers the physical processes that generate instability. Part I describes the normal mode instabilities most important in geophysical applications, including convection, shear instability and baroclinic instability. Classical analytical approaches are covered, while also emphasising numerical methods, mechanisms such as internal wave resonance, and simple `rules of thumb' that permit assessment of instability quickly and intuitively. Part II introduces the cutting edge: nonmodal instabilities, the relationship between instability and turbulence, self-organised criticality, and advanced numerical techniques. Featuring numerous exercises and projects, the book is ideal for advanced students and researchers wishing to understand flow instability and apply it to their own research. It can be used to teach courses in oceanography, atmospheric science, coastal engineering, applied mathematics and environmental science. Exercise solutions and MATLAB® examples are provided online. Also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Addressing classical material as well as new perspectives, Instabilities of Flows and Transition to Turbulence presents a concise, up-to-date treatment of theory and applications of viscous flow instability. It covers materials from classical instability to contemporary research areas including bluff body flow instability, mixed convection flows, and application areas of aerospace and other branches of engineering. Transforms and perturbation techniques are used to link linear instability with receptivity of flows, as developed by the author. The book: Provides complete coverage of transition concepts, including receptivity and flow instability Introduces linear receptivity using bi-lateral Fourier-Laplace transform techniques Presents natural laminar flow (NLF) airfoil analysis and design as a practical application of classical and bypass transition Distinguishes strictly between instability and receptivity, which leads to identification of wall- and free stream-modes Describes energy-based receptivity theory for the description of bypass transitions Instabilities of Flows and Transition to Turbulence has evolved into an account of the personal research interests of the author over the years. A conscious effort has been made to keep the treatment at an elementary level requiring rudimentary knowledge of calculus, the Fourier-Laplace transform, and complex analysis. The book is equally amenable to undergraduate students, as well as researchers in the field.

A state-of-the art analysis of studies in the field of instability of flows, this book contains chapters by leading experts in fluid mechanics. One of the primary aims of the contributors is to determine fruitful directions for future advanced studies and research.

A detailed look at some of the more modern issues of hydrodynamic stability, including transient growth, eigenvalue spectra, secondary instability. It presents analytical results and numerical simulations, linear and selected nonlinear stability methods. By including classical results as well as recent developments in the field of hydrodynamic stability and transition, the book can be used as a textbook for an introductory, graduate-level course in stability theory or for a special-topics fluids course. It is equally of value as a reference for researchers in the field of hydrodynamic stability theory or with an interest in recent developments in fluid dynamics. Stability theory has seen a rapid development over the past decade, this book includes such new developments as direct numerical simulations of transition to turbulence and linear analysis based on the initial-value problem.

This book contains contributions by colleagues, former students and friends of Professor Eli Reshotko in celebration of his 60th birth day. Since Professor Reshotko's scientific and engineering contribu tions have been in the areas of hydrodynamic stability, transition to turbulence, and boundary layer flows, it is only appropriate that the articles in this volume be devoted to these and related topics. The first two sections focus on instabilities and transition in sub sonic and supersonic flows, respectively. The third section deals with developing turbulence, while the the final section treats related prob lems in engineering fluid mechanics. The diversity and scope of the articles contained herein exemplify the insight and expertise required in the study of transitional and turbulent flows today - traits which also exemplify Eli Reshotko's contributions to these fields. A few of the articles in this volume were presented at a sym posium in honor of Eli Reshotko's 60th birthday, held in Newport News, Virginia, on July 28, 1991. The symposium was sponsored by lCASE, and organized by M.Y. Hussaini (lCASE) and R. Hirsh (U.S. National Science Foundation). Of those who could not attend, many chose to honor Professor Reshotko by a contribution to the volume dedicated to him. We would like to use this opportunity to express our deep ap preciation to M.Y. Hussaini for initiating this very special tribute to Eli, and to Ms. Emily Todd for her efforts in the volume preparation and in the organization of the symposium.

The instability of fluid flows is a key topic in classical fluid mechanics because it has huge repercussions for applied disciplines such as chemical engineering, hydraulics, aeronautics, and geophysics. This modern introduction is written for any student, researcher, or practitioner working in the area, for whom an understanding of hydrodynamic instabilities is essential. Based on a decade's experience of teaching postgraduate students in fluid dynamics, this book brings the subject to life by emphasizing the physical mechanisms involved. The theory of dynamical systems provides the basic structure of the exposition, together with asymptotic methods. Wherever possible, Charru discusses the phenomena in terms of characteristic scales and dimensional analysis. The book includes numerous experimental studies, with references to videos and multimedia material, as well as over 150 exercises which introduce the reader to new problems.