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  3. Cambridge Monographs on Mechanics

This series was established in 1952 as medium for the publication of major new works of scholarship on all aspects of theoretical and applied mechanics. From its inception it has maintained a reputation for the publication of outstanding monographs, a number of which have been re-issued in paperback. The series covers such areas as wave propagation, fluid dynamics, theoretical geophysics, combustion and the mechanics of solids. Authors are encouraged to write for a wide audience, and to balance mathematical analysis with physical interpretation and experimental data, where appropriate. Whilst the research literature is expected to be a major source for the content of the book, authors should aim to synthesise new results rather than just survey them.

  • Editorial Boards: M. J. Ablowitz, University of Colorado, Boulder, S. H. Davis, Northwestern University, Illinois, J. Hinch, University of Cambridge, A. Iserles, University of Cambridge, J. Ockendon, University of Oxford, P. J. Olver, University of Minnesota

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28 results in Cambridge Monographs on Mechanics

Page 1 of 2

Topographic Effects in Stratified Flows
  • 2nd edition
  • Peter G. Baines
  • Published online:
    04 April 2025
    Print publication:
    27 January 2022
  • Covering both theory and experiment, this text describes the behaviour of homogeneous and density-stratified fluids over and around topography. Its presentation is suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in fluid mechanics, as well as for practising scientists, engineers, and researchers. Using laboratory experiments and illustrations to further understanding, the author explores topics ranging from the classical hydraulics of single-layer flow to more complex situations involving stratified flows over two- and three-dimensional topography, including complex terrain. A particular focus is placed on applications to the atmosphere and ocean, including discussions of downslope windstorms, and of oceanic flow over continental shelves and slopes. This new edition has been restructured to make it more digestible, and updated to cover significant developments in areas such as exchange flows, gravity currents, waves in stratified fluids, stability, and applications to the atmosphere and ocean.

Theory and Computation in Hydrodynamic Stability
  • 2nd edition
  • W. O. Criminale, T. L. Jackson, R. D. Joslin
  • Published online:
    22 November 2018
    Print publication:
    06 December 2018
  • The study of hydrodynamic stability is fundamental to many subjects, ranging from geophysics and meteorology through to engineering design. This treatise covers both classical and modern aspects of the subject, systematically developing it from the simplest physical problems, then progressing to the most complex, considering linear and nonlinear situations, and analyzing temporal and spatial stability. The authors examine each problem both analytically and numerically. Many relevant fluid flows are treated, including those where the fluid may be compressible, or those from geophysics, or those that require salient geometries for description. Details of initial-value problems are explored equally with those of stability. The text includes copious illustrations and an extensive bibliography, making it suitable for courses on hydrodynamic stability or as an authoritative reference for researchers. In this second edition the opportunity has been taken to update the text and, most importantly, provide solutions to the numerous extended exercises.

Theory and Modeling of Rotating Fluids
  • Convection, Inertial Waves and Precession
  • Keke Zhang, Xinhao Liao
  • Published online:
    26 May 2017
    Print publication:
    23 May 2017
  • A systematic account of the theory and modelling of rotating fluids that highlights the remarkable advances in the area and brings researchers and postgraduate students in atmospheres, oceanography, geophysics, astrophysics and engineering to the frontiers of research. Sufficient mathematical and numerical detail is provided in a variety of geometries such that the analysis and results can be readily reproduced, and many numerical tables are included to enable readers to compare or benchmark their own calculations. Traditionally, there are two disjointed topics in rotating fluids: convective fluid motion driven by buoyancy, discussed by Chandrasekhar (1961), and inertial waves and precession-driven flow, described by Greenspan (1968). Now, for the first time in book form, a unified theory is presented for three topics - thermal convection, inertial waves and precession-driven flow - to demonstrate that these seemingly complicated, and previously disconnected, problems become mathematically simple in the framework of an asymptotic approach that incorporates the essential characteristics of rotating fluids.

Magnetoconvection
  • N. O. Weiss, M. R. E. Proctor
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    30 October 2014
  • The last thirty years have seen great leaps forward in the subject of magnetoconvection. Computational techniques can now explain exotic nonlinear behaviour, transition to chaos and the formation of structures that can be observed on the surface of the Sun. Here, two leading experts present the current state of knowledge of the subject. They provide a mathematical and numerical treatment of the interactions between electrically conducting fluids and magnetic fields that lead to the complex structures and rich behaviour observed on the Sun and other stars, as well as in the interiors of planets like the Earth. The authors' combined analytical and computational approach provides a model for the study of a wide range of related problems. The discussion includes bifurcation theory, chaotic behaviour, pattern formation in two and three dimensions, and applications to geomagnetism and to the properties of sunspots and other features at the solar surface.

Waves and Mean Flows
  • 2nd edition
  • Oliver Bühler
  • Published online:
    05 April 2014
    Print publication:
    06 March 2014
  • Interactions between waves and mean flows play a crucial role in understanding the long-term aspects of atmospheric and oceanographic modelling. Indeed, our ability to predict climate change hinges on our ability to model waves accurately. This book gives a modern account of the nonlinear interactions between waves and mean flows, such as shear flows and vortices. A detailed account of the theory of linear dispersive waves in moving media is followed by a thorough introduction to classical wave-mean interaction theory. The author then extends the scope of the classical theory and lifts its restriction to zonally symmetric mean flows. It can be used as a fundamental reference, a course text, or by geophysicists and physicists needing a first introduction. This second edition includes brand new material, including a section on Langmuir circulations and the Craik–Leibovich instability. The author has also added exercises to aid students' learning.

Vortex Dynamics
  • P. G. Saffman
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    29 January 1993
  • The discovery of coherent structures in turbulence has fostered the hope that the study of vortices will lead to models and an understanding of turbulent flow, thereby solving or at least making less mysterious one of the great unsolved problems of classical physics. Vortex dynamics is a natural paradigm for the field of chaotic motion and modern dynamical system theory. The emphasis in this monograph is on the classical theory of inviscid incompressible fluids containing finite regions of vorticity. The effects of viscosity, compressibility, inhomogeneity and stratification are enormously important in many fields of application, from hypersonic flight to global environmental fluid mechanics. However, this volume focuses on those aspects of fluid motion which are primarily controlled by the vorticity and are such that the effects of the other fluid properties are secondary.

Buoyancy Effects in Fluids
  • J. S. Turner
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    01 February 1973
  • The phenomena treated in this book all depend on the action of gravity on small density differences in a non-rotating fluid. The author gives a connected account of the various motions which can be driven or influenced by buoyancy forces in a stratified fluid, including internal waves, turbulent shear flows and buoyant convection. This excellent introduction to a rapidly developing field, first published in 1973, can be used as the basis of graduate courses in university departments of meteorology, oceanography and various branches of engineering. This edition is reprinted with corrections, and extra references have been added to allow readers to bring themselves up to date on specific topics. Professor Turner is a physicist with a special interest in laboratory modelling of small-scale geophysical processes. An important feature is the superb illustration of the text with many fine photographs of laboratory experiments and natural phenomena.

Colloidal Dispersions
  • W. B. Russel, D. A. Saville, W. R. Schowalter
  • Published online:
    05 August 2012
    Print publication:
    07 December 1989
  • This book covers the physical side of colloidal science from the individual forces acting between particles smaller than a micrometer that are suspended in a liquid, through the resulting equilibrium and dynamic properties. A variety of internal forces both attractive and repulsive act in conjunction with Brownian motion and the balance between them all decides the phase behaviour. On top of this various external fields, such as gravity or electromagnetic fields, diffusion and non-Newtonian rheology produce complex effects, each of which is of important scientific and technological interest. The authors aim to impart a sound, quantitative understanding based on fundamental theory and experiments with well-characterised model systems. This broad grasp of the fundamentals lends insight and helps to develop the intuitive sense needed to isolate essential features of the technological problems and design critical experiments. The main prerequisites for understanding the book are basic fluid mechanics, statistical mechanics and electromagnetism, though self contained reviews of each subject are provided at appropriate points. Some facility with differential equations is also necessary. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter, making the work suitable as a textbook for graduate courses in chemical engineering or applied mathematics. It will also be useful as a reference for individuals in academia or industry undertaking research in colloid science.

Turbulence, Coherent Structures, Dynamical Systems and Symmetry
  • 2nd edition
  • Philip Holmes, John L. Lumley, Gahl Berkooz, Clarence W. Rowley
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    23 February 2012
  • Turbulence pervades our world, from weather patterns to the air entering our lungs. This book describes methods that reveal its structures and dynamics. Building on the existence of coherent structures – recurrent patterns – in turbulent flows, it describes mathematical methods that reduce the governing (Navier–Stokes) equations to simpler forms that can be understood more easily. This second edition contains a new chapter on the balanced proper orthogonal decomposition: a method derived from control theory that is especially useful for flows equipped with sensors and actuators. It also reviews relevant work carried out since 1995. The book is ideal for engineering, physical science and mathematics researchers working in fluid dynamics and other areas in which coherent patterns emerge.

The Fluid Mechanics of Large Blood Vessels
  • T. J. Pedley
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    10 April 1980
  • The analysis of the circulation of the blood is one of the most important areas of fluid mechanics research, with far-reaching medical and physiological implications.

An Introduction to Fourier Analysis and Generalised Functions
  • M. J. Lighthill
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    01 January 1958
  • This monograph on generalised functions, Fourier integrals and Fourier series is intended for readers who, while accepting that a theory where each point is proved is better than one based on conjecture, nevertheless seek a treatment as elementary and free from complications as possible. Little detailed knowledge of particular mathematical techniques is required; the book is suitable for advanced university students, and can be used as the basis of a short undergraduate lecture course. A valuable and original feature of the book is the use of generalised-function theory to derive a simple, widely applicable method of obtaining asymptotic expressions for Fourier transforms and Fourier coefficients.

Wave Interactions and Fluid Flows
  • Alex D. D. Craik
  • Published online:
    01 June 2011
    Print publication:
    30 January 1986
  • Wave Interactions and Fluid Flows is a coherent, up-to-date and comprehensive account of theory and experiment on wave-interaction phenomena, both in fluids at rest and in shear flows. On the one hand, this includes water waves, internal waves, their evolution and interaction and associated wave-driven mean flows; on the other, phenomena of nonlinear hydrodynamic stability, especially those leading to the onset of turbulence. Close similarities - and crucial differences - exist between these two classes of phenomena and their treatment in this single study provides a particularly valuable bridge between more specialised, but related, disciplines. As a result, this unique book will appeal to researchers and graduate students of fluid mechanics in its widest sense, including the study of wave-interaction phenomena in such diverse fields as meteorology, aeronautical and hydraulic engineering, optics, solar physics and population dynamics. Dr Craik is an active researcher of long-standing at the University of St Andrews and has wide experience in the field of fluid mechanics.

Elastic Waves at High Frequencies
  • Techniques for Radiation and Diffraction of Elastic and Surface Waves
  • John G. Harris
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    22 July 2010
  • John G. Harris intended to explain in this book the special techniques required to model the radiation and diffraction of elastic and surface waves. Sadly, he died before he could fulfil this ambition, but his plan has been brought to fruition by a team of his distinguished collaborators. The book begins with the basic underlying equations for wave motion and then builds upon this foundation by solving a number of fundamental scattering problems. The remaining chapters provide a thorough introduction to modern techniques that have proven essential to understanding radiation and diffraction at high frequencies. Graduate students, researchers and professionals in applied mathematics, physics and engineering will find that the chapters increase in complexity, beginning with plane-wave propagation and spectral analyses. Other topics include elastic wave theory, the Wiener–Hopf technique, the effects of viscosity on acoustic diffraction, and the phenomenon of channelling of wave energy along guided structures.

Gravity–Capillary Free-Surface Flows
  • Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    15 July 2010
  • Free surface problems occur in many aspects of science and of everyday life such as the waves on a beach, bubbles rising in a glass of champagne, melting ice, pouring flows from a container and sails billowing in the wind. Consequently, the effect of surface tension on gravity-capillary flows continues to be a fertile field of research in applied mathematics and engineering. Concentrating on applications arising from fluid dynamics, Vanden-Broeck draws upon his years of experience in the field to address the many challenges involved in attempting to describe such flows mathematically. Whilst careful numerical techniques are implemented to solve the basic equations, an emphasis is placed upon the reader developing a deep understanding of the structure of the resulting solutions. The author also reviews relevant concepts in fluid mechanics to help readers from other scientific fields who are interested in free boundary problems.

Lagrangian Fluid Dynamics
  • Andrew Bennett
  • Published online:
    06 July 2010
    Print publication:
    09 March 2006
  • The emergence of observing systems such as acoustically-tracked floats in the deep ocean, and surface drifters navigating by satellite has seen renewed interest in Lagrangian fluid dynamics. Starting from the foundations of elementary kinematics and assuming some familiarity of Eulerian fluid dynamics, this 2006 book reviews the classical and new exact solutions of the Lagrangian framework, and then addresses the general solvability of the resulting general equations of motion. A unified account of turbulent diffusion and dispersion is offered, with applications among others to plankton patchiness in the ocean. Written at graduate level, the book provides the first detailed and comprehensive analytical development of the Lagrangian formulation of fluid dynamics, of interest not only to applied mathematicians but also oceanographers, meteorologists, mechanical engineers, astrophysicists and indeed all investigators of the dynamics of fluids.

Theory and Computation of Hydrodynamic Stability
  • W. O. Criminale, T. L. Jackson, R. D. Joslin
  • Published online:
    06 July 2010
    Print publication:
    23 October 2003
  • The study of hydrodynamic stability is fundamental to many subjects, ranging from geophysics and meteorology through to engineering design. This treatise covers both classical and modern aspects of the subject, systematically developing it from the simplest physical problems, then progressing chapter by chapter to the most complex, considering linear and nonlinear situations, and analysing temporal and spatial stability. The authors examine each problem both analytically and numerically: many chapters end with an appendix outlining relevant numerical techniques. All relevant fluid flows are treated, including those where the fluid may be compressible, or those from geophysics, or those that require salient geometries for description. Details of initial-value problems are explored equally with those of stability. As a result, the early transient period as well as the asymptotic fate for perturbations for a flow can be assessed. The text is enriched with many exercises, copious illustrations and an extensive bibliography and the result is a book that can be used with courses on hydrodynamic stability or as an authoritative reference for researchers.

Theory of Laminar Flames
  • J. D. Buckmaster, G. S. S. Ludford
  • Published online:
    05 May 2010
    Print publication:
    29 July 1982
  • This monograph deals with the structure, generation and stability of flames from a mathematical point of view. It uses a specific mathematical approach to provide a unified theoretical description of fundamental flame phenomena. Its importance stems from the fact that it provides the first clear evidence that combustion can be legitimately treated as a mathematical science as well as an empirical one. The book will be of interest to researchers in combustion, fluid mechanics and applied mathematics, as well as to graduate students taking advanced courses in these areas.

Ocean Acoustic Tomography
  • Walter Munk, Peter Worcester, Carl Wunsch
  • Published online:
    04 May 2010
    Print publication:
    30 June 1995
  • The problem of ocean acoustic tomography is to infer from precise measurements of travel time, or other properties of acoustic propagation, the state of the ocean traversed by a sound field. Tomography takes advantage of two facts: that travel time and other measurable acoustic parameters are functions of temperature, water velocity, and other parameters of oceanographic interest, and can be interpreted to provide information about the intervening ocean using inverse methods; and that the ocean is virtually transparent to low-frequency sound, so that signals can be transmitted over distances of many thousands of kilometres. It is therefore possible to prepare a practical system of transmitters and receivers to interpret the behaviour of the oceans. This book gives a comprehensive presentation of the underlying oceanography and mathematics necessary to understand and develop such a system. It covers the forward and inverse tomography problem, as well as numerous models for data interpretation. Also included is an epilogue outlining the history of tomographic techniques. It should prove a valuable resource to oceanographers and climatologists, as well as applied mathematicians and engineers interested in applications of fluid mechanics tools.

Waves and Mean Flows
  • Oliver Bühler
  • Published online:
    29 March 2010
    Print publication:
    20 August 2009
  • Interactions between waves and mean flows play a crucial role in understanding the long-term aspects of atmospheric and oceanographic modelling. Indeed, our ability to predict climate change hinges on our ability to model waves accurately. This book gives a modern account of the nonlinear interactions between waves and mean flows such as shear flows and vortices. A detailed account of the theory of linear dispersive waves in moving media is followed by a thorough introduction to classical wave–mean interaction theory. The author then extends the scope of the classical theory and lifts its restriction to zonally symmetric mean flows. The book is a fundamental reference for graduate students and researchers in fluid mechanics, and can be used as a text for advanced courses; it will also be appreciated by geophysicists and physicists who need an introduction to this important area in fundamental fluid dynamics and atmosphere-ocean science.

Acoustics of Fluid-Structure Interactions
  • M. S. Howe
  • Published online:
    22 March 2010
    Print publication:
    13 August 1998
  • Acoustics of Fluid-Structure Interactions addresses an increasingly important branch of fluid mechanics - the absorption of noise and vibration by fluid flow. This subject, which offers numerous challenges to conventional areas of acoustics, is of growing concern in places where the environment is adversely affected by sound. Howe presents useful background material on fluid mechanics and the elementary concepts of classical acoustics and structural vibrations. Using examples, many of which include complete worked solutions, he vividly illustrates the theoretical concepts involved. He provides the basis for all calculations necessary for the determination of sound generation by aircraft, ships, general ventilation and combustion systems, as well as musical instruments. Both a graduate textbook and a reference for researchers, Acoustics of Fluid-Structure Interactions is an important synthesis of information in this field. It will also aid engineers in the theory and practice of noise control.

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