scholarly journals A new upper bound for the largest growth rate of linear Rayleigh–Taylor instability

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Changsheng Dou ◽  
Jialiang Wang ◽  
Weiwei Wang

AbstractWe investigate the effect of (interface) surface tensor on the linear Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability in stratified incompressible viscous fluids. The existence of linear RT instability solutions with largest growth rate Λ is proved under the instability condition (i.e., the surface tension coefficient ϑ is less than a threshold $\vartheta _{\mathrm{c}}$ ϑ c ) by the modified variational method of PDEs. Moreover, we find a new upper bound for Λ. In particular, we directly observe from the upper bound that Λ decreasingly converges to zero as ϑ goes from zero to the threshold $\vartheta _{\mathrm{c}}$ ϑ c .

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingrui Ma ◽  
Xianzhu Xiong

Abstract In this article, we investigate the effect of surface tension in the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) problem of stratified incompressible viscoelastic fluids. We prove that there exists an unstable solution to the linearized stratified RT problem with a largest growth rate Λ under the instability condition (i.e., the surface tension coefficient ϑ is less than a threshold $\vartheta _{c}$ ϑ c ). Moreover, for this instability condition, the largest growth rate $\varLambda _{\vartheta }$ Λ ϑ decreases from a positive constant to 0, when ϑ increases from 0 to $\vartheta _{c}$ ϑ c , which mathematically verifies that the internal surface tension can constrain the growth of the RT instability during the linear stage.


1993 ◽  
Vol 248 ◽  
pp. 363-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. H. Wheless ◽  
G. T. Csanady

We used a compound matrix method to integrate the Orr–Sommerfeld equation in an investigation of short instability waves (λ < 6 cm) on the coupled shear flow at the air–sea interface under suddenly imposed wind (a gust model). The method is robust and fast, so that the effects of external variables on growth rate could easily be explored. As expected from past theoretical studies, the growth rate proved sensitive to air and water viscosity, and to the curvature of the air velocity profile very close to the interface. Surface tension had less influence, growth rate increasing somewhat with decreasing surface tension. Maximum growth rate and minimum wave speed nearly coincided for some combinations of fluid properties, but not for others.The most important new finding is that, contrary to some past order of magnitude estimates made on theoretical grounds, the eigenfunctions at these short wavelengths are confined to a distance of the order of the viscous wave boundary-layer thickness from the interface. Correspondingly, the perturbation vorticity is high, the streamwise surface velocity perturbation in typical cases being five times the orbital velocity of free waves on an undisturbed water surface. The instability waves should therefore be thought of as fundamentally different flow structures from free waves: given their high vorticity, they are akin to incipient turbulent eddies. They may also be expected to break at a much lower steepness than free waves.


2010 ◽  
Vol 643 ◽  
pp. 127-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
GUIDO BOFFETTA ◽  
ANDREA MAZZINO ◽  
STEFANO MUSACCHIO ◽  
LARA VOZELLA

The effects of polymer additives on Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) instability of immiscible fluids is investigated using the Oldroyd-B viscoelastic model. Analytic results obtained exploiting the phase-field approach show that in polymer solution the growth rate of the instability speeds up with elasticity (but remains slower than in the pure solvent case). Numerical simulations of the viscoelastic binary fluid model confirm this picture.


1. The equations of motion of viscous fluid (obtained by grafting on certain terms to the abstract equations of the Eulerian form so as to adapt these equations to the case of fluids subject to stresses depending in some hypothetical manner on the rates of distortion, which equations Navier seems to have first introduced in 1822, and which were much studied by Cauchy and Poisson) were finally shown by St. Venant and Sir Gabriel Stokes, in 1845, to involve no other assumption than that the stresses, other than that of pressure uniform in all directions, are linear functions of the rates of distortion, with a co-efficient depending on the physical state of the fluid. By obtaining a singular solution of these equations as applied to the case of pendulums in steady periodic motion, Sir G. Stokes was able to compare the theoretical results with the numerous experiments that had been recorded, with the result that the theoretical calculations agreed so closely with the experimental determinations as seemingly to prove the truth of the assumption involved. This was also the result of comparing the flow of water through uniform tubes with the flow calculated from a singular solution of the equations so long as the tubes were small and the velocities slow. On the other hand, these results, both theoretical and practical, were directly at variance with common experience as to the resistance encountered by larger bodies moving with higher velocities through water, or by water moving with greater velocities through larger tubes. This discrepancy Sir G. Stokes considered as probably resulting from eddies which rendered the actual motion other than that to which the singular solution referred and not as disproving the assumption.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document