scholarly journals A settling-driven instability in two-component, stably stratified fluids

2017 ◽  
Vol 816 ◽  
pp. 243-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Alsinan ◽  
E. Meiburg ◽  
P. Garaud
Keyword(s):  
Linear Stability ◽  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Scalar Fields ◽  
State Density ◽  
Stratified Fluids ◽  
Instability Mechanism ◽  
Two Component ◽  
Constant Gradient ◽  
Stability Results ◽  
Double Diffusive

We analyse the linear stability of stably stratified fluids whose density depends on two scalar fields where one of the scalar fields is unstably stratified and involves a settling velocity. Such conditions may be found, for example, in flows involving the transport of sediment in addition to heat or salt. A linear stability analysis for constant-gradient base states demonstrates that the settling velocity generates a phase shift between the perturbation fields of the two scalars, which gives rise to a novel, settling-driven instability mode. This instability mechanism favours the growth of waves that are inclined with respect to the horizontal. It is active for all density and diffusivity ratios, including for cases in which the two scalars diffuse at identical rates. If the scalars have unequal diffusivities, it competes with the elevator mode waves of the classical double-diffusive instability. We present detailed linear stability results as a function of the governing dimensionless parameters, including for lateral gradients of the base state density fields that result in predominantly horizontal intrusion instabilities. Highly resolved direct numerical simulation results serve to illustrate the nonlinear competition of the various instabilities for such flows in different parameter regimes.

Sediment-laden fresh water above salt water: linear stability analysis

2011 ◽  
Vol 691 ◽  
pp. 279-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Burns ◽  
E. Meiburg
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Linear Stability ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Interface Thickness ◽  
Particle Settling ◽  
Salinity Field ◽  
Unstable Layer ◽  
Stability Results ◽  
Double Diffusive

AbstractWhen a layer of particle-laden fresh water is placed above clear, saline water, both Rayleigh–Taylor and double diffusive fingering instabilities may arise. For quasi-steady base profiles, we obtain linear stability results for such situations by means of a rational spectral approximation method with adaptively chosen grid points, which is able to resolve multiple steep gradients in the base state density profile. In the absence of salinity and for a step-like concentration profile, the dominant parameter is the ratio of the particle settling velocity to the viscous velocity scale. As long as this ratio is small, particle settling has a negligible influence on the instability growth. However, when the particles settle more rapidly than the instability grows, the growth rate decreases inversely proportional to the settling velocity. This damping effect is a result of the smearing of the vorticity field, which in turn is caused by the deposition of vorticity onto the fluid elements passing through the interface between clear and particle-laden fluid. In the presence of a stably stratified salinity field, this picture changes dramatically. An important new parameter is the ratio of the particle settling velocity to the diffusive spreading velocity of the salinity, or alternatively the ratio of the unstable layer thickness to the diffusive interface thickness of the salinity profile. As long as this quantity does not exceed unity, the instability of the system and the most amplified wavenumber are primarily determined by double diffusive effects. In contrast to situations without salinity, particle settling can have a destabilizing effect and significantly increase the growth rate. Scaling laws obtained from the linear stability results are seen to be largely consistent with earlier experimental observations and theoretical arguments put forward by other authors. For unstable layer thicknesses much larger than the salinity interface thickness, the particle and salinity interfaces become increasingly decoupled, and the dominant instability mode becomes Rayleigh–Taylor-like, centred at the lower boundary of the particle-laden flow region.

Settling-driven instability in two-component stably stratified Hele-Shaw flows

2018 ◽  
Vol 843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael M. Oliveira ◽  
Eckart Meiburg
Keyword(s):  
Stability Problem ◽  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Critical Value ◽  
Neutral Stability ◽  
Instability Mode ◽  
Two Component ◽  
Linear Stability Problem ◽  
Constant Gradient ◽  
Double Diffusive ◽  
Hele Shaw Cell

We investigate the onset of instability in a stably stratified two-component fluid in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell when the unstably stratified scalar has a settling velocity. This linear stability problem is analysed on the basis of Darcy’s law, for constant-gradient base states. The settling velocity is found to trigger a novel instability mode characterized by pairs of inclined waves. For unequal diffusivities, this new settling-driven mode competes with the traditional double-diffusive mode. Below a critical value of the settling velocity, the double-diffusive elevator mode dominates, while, above this threshold, the inclined waves associated with the settling-driven instability exhibit faster growth. The analysis yields neutral stability curves and allows for the discussion of various asymptotic limits.

Sediment-laden fresh water above salt water: nonlinear simulations

2014 ◽  
Vol 762 ◽  
pp. 156-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Burns ◽  
E. Meiburg
Keyword(s):  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Linear Stability ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Linear Stability Analysis ◽  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Taylor Instability ◽  
Interfacial Region ◽  
Rayleigh Taylor Instability ◽  
Sediment Interface ◽  
Double Diffusive

AbstractWhen a layer of particle-laden fresh water is placed above clear, saline water, both double-diffusive and Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities may arise. The present investigation extends the linear stability analysis of Burns & Meiburg (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 691, 2012, pp. 279–314) into the nonlinear regime, by means of two- and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS). The initial instability growth in the DNS is seen to be consistent with the dominant modes predicted by the linear stability analysis. The subsequent vigorous growth of individual fingers gives rise to a secondary instability, and eventually to the formation of intense plumes that become detached from the interfacial region. The simulations show that the presence of particles with a Stokes settling velocity modifies the traditional double-diffusive fingering by creating an unstable ‘nose region’ in the horizontally averaged profiles, located between the upward-moving salinity and the downward-moving sediment interface. The effective thickness $l_{s}$ ($l_{c}$) of the salinity (sediment) interface grows diffusively, as does the height $H$ of the nose region. The ratio $H/l_{s}$ initially grows and then plateaus, at a value that is determined by the balance between the flux of sediment into the rose region from above, the double-diffusive/Rayleigh–Taylor flux out of the nose region below, and the rate of sediment accumulation within the nose region. For small values of $H/l_{s}\leqslant O(0.1)$, double-diffusive fingering dominates, while for larger values $H/l_{s}\geqslant O(0.1)$ the sediment and salinity interfaces become increasingly separated in space and the dominant instability mode becomes Rayleigh–Taylor like. A scaling analysis based on the results of a parametric study indicates that $H/l_{s}$ is a linear function of a single dimensionless grouping that can be interpreted as the ratio of inflow and outflow of sediment into the nose region. The simulation results furthermore indicate that double-diffusive and Rayleigh–Taylor instability mechanisms cause the effective settling velocity of the sediment to scale with the overall buoyancy velocity of the system, which can be orders of magnitude larger than the Stokes settling velocity. While the power spectra of double-diffusive and Rayleigh–Taylor-dominated flows are qualitatively similar, the difference between flows dominated by fingering and leaking is clearly seen when analysing the spectral phase shift. For leaking-dominated flows a phase-locking mechanism is observed, which intensifies with time. Hence, the leaking mode can be interpreted as a fingering mode which has become phase-locked due to large-scale overturning events in the nose region, as a result of a Rayleigh–Taylor instability.

Comparison of linear stability results with flight transition data

AIAA Journal ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Masad ◽  
M. R. Malik
Keyword(s):  
Linear Stability ◽  
Stability Results

scholarly journals Double-diffusive two-fluid flow in a slippery channel: A linear stability analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 127101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukhendu Ghosh ◽  
R. Usha ◽  
Kirti Chandra Sahu
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Linear Stability ◽  
Linear Stability Analysis ◽  
Two Fluid ◽  
Double Diffusive

Density-driven instabilities of miscible fluids in a Hele-Shaw cell: linear stability analysis of the three-dimensional Stokes equations

2002 ◽  
Vol 451 ◽  
pp. 261-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. GRAF ◽  
E. MEIBURG ◽  
C. HÄRTEL
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Linear Stability ◽  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Interface Thickness ◽  
Gap Width ◽  
Stability Results ◽  
Hele Shaw Cell

We consider the situation of a heavier fluid placed above a lighter one in a vertically arranged Hele-Shaw cell. The two fluids are miscible in all proportions. For this configuration, experiments and nonlinear simulations recently reported by Fernandez et al. (2002) indicate the existence of a low-Rayleigh-number (Ra) ‘Hele-Shaw’ instability mode, along with a high-Ra ‘gap’ mode whose dominant wavelength is on the order of five times the gap width. These findings are in disagreement with linear stability results based on the gap-averaged Hele-Shaw approach, which predict much smaller wavelengths. Similar observations have been made for immiscible flows as well (Maxworthy 1989).In order to resolve the above discrepancy, we perform a linear stability analysis based on the full three-dimensional Stokes equations. A generalized eigenvalue problem is formulated, whose numerical solution yields both the growth rate and the two-dimensional eigenfunctions in the cross-gap plane as functions of the spanwise wavenumber, an ‘interface’ thickness parameter, and Ra. For large Ra, the dispersion relations confirm that the optimally amplified wavelength is about five times the gap width, with the exact value depending on the interface thickness. The corresponding growth rate is in very good agreement with the experimental data as well. The eigenfunctions indicate that the predominant fluid motion occurs within the plane of the Hele-Shaw cell. However, for large Ra purely two-dimensional modes are also amplified, for which there is no motion in the spanwise direction. Scaling laws are provided for the dependence of the maximum growth rate, the corresponding wavenumber, and the cutoff wavenumber on Ra and the interface thickness. Furthermore, the present results are compared both with experimental data, as well as with linear stability results obtained from the Hele-Shaw equations and a modified Brinkman equation.

Linear stability analysis for periodic travelling waves of the Boussinesq equation and the Klein–Gordon–Zakharov system

2014 ◽  
Vol 144 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sevdzhan Hakkaev ◽  
Milena Stanislavova ◽  
Atanas Stefanov
Keyword(s):  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Linear Stability ◽  
Wide Class ◽  
Boussinesq Equation ◽  
Travelling Waves ◽  
Periodic Waves ◽  
Zakharov System ◽  
Klein Gordon ◽  
Spatially Periodic ◽  
Stability Results

The question of the linear stability of spatially periodic waves for the Boussinesq equation (in the cases p = 2, 3) and the Klein–Gordon–Zakharov system is considered. For a wide class of solutions, we completely and explicitly characterize their linear stability (instability) when the perturbations are taken with the same period T. In particular, our results allow us to completely recover the linear stability results, in the limit T → ∞, for the whole-line case.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document