Nonlinear electrohydrodynamic Rayleigh–Taylor instability with mass and heat transfer: effect of a normal field
The nonlinear electrohydrodynamic stability of two superposed dielectric fluids with interfacial transfer of mass and heat is presented for layers of finite thickness. The fluids are subjected to a normal electric field in the absence of surface charges. Using a technique based on the method of multiple scales it is shown that the evolution of the amplitude is governed by a Ginzburg–Landau equation. When the mass and heat transfer are neglected, the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation is obtained. Further, it is shown that, near the marginal state, a nonlinear diffusion equation is obtained in the presence of mass and heat transfer. The various stability criteria are discussed both analytically and numerically and the stability diagrams are obtained.