Surface mean pressures, oil flow visualization, and 3-velocity-component laser-Doppler velocimeter measurements are presented for a turbulent boundary layer of momentum thickness Reynolds number, 7300 and thickness delta over two circular based axisymmetric bumps of height H = delta and 2delta and one rectangular based symmetric bump of H = 2delta. LDV data were obtained at one plane x/H ¥ 3.26 for each case. Complex vortical separations occur on the leeside and merge into large stream-wise mean vortices downstream for the 2 axisymmetric cases. The near-wall flow (y+ < 90) is dominated by the wall. For the axisymmetric cases, the vortices in the outer region produce large turbulence levels near the centerline and appear to have low frequency motions that contribute to turbulent diffusion. For the case with a narrower span-wise shape, there are sharper separation lines and lower turbulence intensities in the vortical downstream flow. Fine-spatial-resolution LDV measurements were also obtained on half of the leeside of an axisymmetric bump (H/delta = 2) in a turbulent boundary layer. Three-dimensional (3-D) separations occur on the leeside with one saddle separation on the centerline that is connected by a separation line to one focus separation on each side of the centerline. Downstream of the saddle point the mean backflow converges to the focal separation points in a thin region confined within about 0.15delta from the local bump surface. The mean backflow zone is supplied by the intermittent large eddies as well as by the near surface flow from the side of the bump. The separated flow has a higher turbulent kinetic energy and shows bimodal histograms in local and U and W, which appear to be due to highly unsteady turbulent motions. By the mode-averaged analysis of bimodal histograms, highly unsteady flow structures are estimated and unsteady 3-D separations seem to be occurring over a wide region on the bump leeside. The process of these separations has very complex dynamics having a large intermittent attached and detached flow region which is varying in time. These bimodal features with highly correlated local u and w fluctuating motions are the major source of large Reynolds stresses local u2, w2 and -uw. Because of the variation of the mean flow angle in the separation zones, the turbulent flow from different directions is non-correlated, resulting in lower shearing stresses. Farther from the wall, large stream-wise vortices form from flow around the sides of the bump. / Ph. D.