Stability Analysis of a Vertical Curved Channel Flow with a Radial Temperature Gradient

The linear stability analysis of a Newtonian incompressible fluid in a vertical curved channel formed by two coaxial cylindrical surfaces with a radial temperature gradient and an azimuthal pressure gradient shows that critical modes are oscillatory and non-axisymmetric. We have derived a generalized Rayleigh discriminant which includes both the curvature and buoyancy effects. Centrifugal buoyancy induces weak asymmetry of the dependence of the control parameter critical values on the sign of the temperature gradient. The critical parameters depend on the temperature gradient, the radius ratio and the nature of the fluid. For a wide curvature channel flow, there are two critical modes: oscillatory Dean modes for small temperature gradients and oscillatory centrifugal-thermal modes for relatively large temperature gradients. Received 14 November 2001 and accepted 29 March 2002 Published online: 2 October 2002 Communicated by H.J.S. Fernando