The low-turbulence subsonic wind tunnel was significantly modified so that turbulent boundary-layer pressure fluctuation measurements could be made with adequate signal-to-noise ratio over a wide frequency range. Measurements were made in a mild adverse and a mild favorable pressure gradient with natural transition occurring in the boundary layer. To make certain that the facility was operating correctly and to establish a basis for comparison, the zero-pressure gradient case was investigated. For this case, the spectral density, magnitude of the normalized longitudinal and lateral cross-spectral density functions, and convection velocity as a function of longitudinal separation and frequency were in excellent agreement with other experimenters. When comparison is made to the zero-pressure gradient in the same non-dimensionalized frequency band and at similar non-dimensionalized longitudinal spacings, the convection velocity ratio is higher in the favorable and lower in the adverse pressure gradients, primarily due to the change in shape of the mean velocity profile. The effect of an adverse pressure gradient on the non-dimensionalized spectral density is to increase the low-frequency content without influencing the high-frequency portion appreciably, when compared to the zero-pressure gradient case. (Author).

This volume contains a selection of the papers presented at the Eighth Symposium on Turbulent Shear Flows held at the Technical University of Munich, 9-11 September 1991. The first of these biennial international symposia was held at the Pennsylvania State Uni versity, USA, in 1977; subsequent symposia have been held at Imperial College, London, England; the University of California, Davis, USA; the University of Karlsruhe, Ger many; Cornell University, Ithaca, USA; the Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France; and Stanford University, California, USA. The purpose of this series of symposia is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of new developments in the field of turbulence, especially as related to shear flows of importance in engineering and geo physics. From the 330 extended abstracts submitted for this symposium, 145 papers were presented orally and 60 as posters. Out of these, we have selected twenty-four papers for inclusion in this volume, each of which has been revised and extended in accordance with the editors' recommendations. The following four theme areas were selected after consideration of the quality of the contributions, the importance of the area, and the selection made in earlier volumes: - wall flows, - separated flows, - compressibility effects, - buoyancy, rotation, and curvature effects. As in the past, each section corresponding to the above areas begins with an introduction by an authority in the field that places the individual contributions in context with one another and with related research.

This experimental study was carried out at a free-stream Mach number of 0.6 and a Reynolds number per foot of 3.45 x 106. The magnitudes of the wall-pressure fluctuations agree with the Lilley-Hodgson theoretical results. Space-time correlations of the wall-pressure fluctuations generally agree with Willmarth's results for longitudinal separation distances. The convection velocity of the fluctuations is found to increase with increasing separation distances, and its significance is explained. Measurements with the longitudinal component of the velocity fluctuations indicate that the contributions to the wall-pressure fluctuations are from two regions, an inner region near the wall and an outer region linked with the intermittency.

The Air Force Institute of Technology Boundary Layer Research Facility test section was modified to create controlled non-zero streamwise pressure gradients. The capability of the modified facility to reproduce theoretical laminar boundary layer velocity profiles and to create a self- preserving flow with an adverse streamwise pressure gradient was verified with three-dimensional laser Doppler anemometry. The effects of streamwise adverse and favorable pressure gradients on turbulent boundary layer flow characteristics (velocity profiles, turbulence and skin friction) and vortex formation over a flat plate with riblets at low speed (U = 5 mIs) were studied. Normal and spanwise velocity profiles for both pressure gradients showed the presence of paired counter-rotating vortices nested within the riblet valleys. These flow structures increased drag and significantly altered near-wall flow compared to a smooth plate turbulent boundary layer. The adverse pressure gradient tended to degrade these vortices as the flow progressed.

Analysis of Turbulent Boundary Layers focuses on turbulent flows meeting the requirements for the boundary-layer or thin-shear-layer approximations. Its approach is devising relatively fundamental, and often subtle, empirical engineering correlations, which are then introduced into various forms of describing equations for final solution. After introducing the topic on turbulence, the book examines the conservation equations for compressible turbulent flows, boundary-layer equations, and general behavior of turbulent boundary layers. The latter chapters describe the CS method for calculating two-dimensional and axisymmetric laminar and turbulent boundary layers. This book will be useful to readers who have advanced knowledge in fluid mechanics, especially to engineers who study the important problems of design.