Instability of periodic capillary-gravity waves on deep water

Pure gravity waves of finite amplitude in infinitely deep water are unstable to small disturbances in the form of modulated side-bands (Benjamin-Feir instability). These disturbances will undergo unbounded magnification if the parameter Ω associated with the frequency of the side-bands lies in the range $\text{0<Ω<√2 ka}$, where k and a are the wavenumber and amplitude of the basic wavetrain. The present paper is devoted to studying the situation for capillary-gravity waves. It is shown that the corresponding range of Ω, for which instability can arise, is smaller, see eq. 4.17, than for the pure gravity wave situation. Even pure capillary waves admit instabilities.     

Nonlinear stability of flows of Jeffreys fluids at low Weissenberg numbers

We consider the stability of steady flows of viscoelastic fluids of Jeffreys type. For sufficiently small Weissenberg numbers, but arbitrary Reynolds numbers, it is proved that the flow is stable to small disturbances if the spectrum of the linearized operator is in the left half plane.     

Instabilities of the Stewartson layer Part 2. Supercritical mode transitions

We investigate, both experimentally and numerically, the fluid flow in a spherical shell with radius ratio r_i/r_o=2/3. Both spheres rotate about a common axis, with _i>_o. The basic state consists of a Stewartson layer situated on the tangent cylinder, the cylinder parallel to the axis of rotation and touching the inner sphere. If the differential rotation is sufficiently large, non-axisymmetric instabilities arise, with the wavenumber of the most unstable mode increasing with increasing overall rotation. In the increasingly supercritical regime, a series of mode transitions occurs in which the wavenumber decreases again. The experimental and numerical results are in good agreement regarding this basic sequence of mode transitions, and the numerics are then used to study some of the finer details of the solutions that could not be observed in the experiment.     

TEMPORAL STABILITY OF FLOW THROUGH VISCOELASTIC TUBES

The stability of the Hagen–Poiseuille flow of a Newtonian fluid in an incompressible, viscoelastic tube contained within a rigid, hollow cylinder is determined using linear stability analysis. The stability of the system subjected to infinitesimal axisymmetric or non-axisymmetric disturbances is considered. The fluid and wall inertia terms are retained in their respective equations of motion. A novel numerical strategy is introduced to study the stability of the coupled fluid–structure system. The strategy alleviates the need for aninitial guess and thus ensures that all the unstable modes within a given closed region in the complex eigenvalue plane will be found. It is found that the system is unstable to both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric disturbances. Moreover, depending on the values of the control parameters, the first unstable mode can be either an axisymmetric mode with the azimuthal wavenumber n=0 or a non-axisymmetric mode withn =1. For a given azimuthal wavenumber, it is found that there are no more than two unstable modes within the closed region considered here in the complex plane. For both the axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric instabilities, one mode is a solid-based, flow-induced surface instability, while the other one is a fluid-based instability that asymptotes to the least-damped rigid-wall mode as the thickness of the compliant wall tends to zero. All four modes are stabilized, to different degrees, by the solid viscosity.     

Instability of plane Couette flow of viscoelastic liquids

A review of our work on the stability of plane Couette flow of a viscoelastic liquid is given. The first part of the review is based on the assumption of a “short memory” of the fluid. The Reynolds-Orr energy criterion intimates the possibility of instability at very low Reynolds numbers. A linear stability analysis for disturbances in the flow plane shows that beyond the stability limit given by the energy criterion there are always disturbances which grow with time. A critical assessment of the short memory theory shows the severe limitations of its applicability.In the second part of the paper, the assumption of short memory is dropped. The stability of plane Couette flow with respect to special disturbances perpendicular to the flow plane is investigated for a Maxwell fluid. The flow is unstable if the product of Reynolds number and Weissenberg number is higher than a certain limit, which has the value one for a simple Maxwell fluid. This result can also be interpreted as follows: The flow becomes unstable if the velocity at the boundary walls is higher than the shear wave velocity of the fluid.     

Optimal disturbances of a dusty-gas plane-channel flow with a nonuniform distribution of particles

The classical stability theory for multiphase flows, based on an analysis of one (most unstable) mode, is generalized. A method for studying an algebraic (non-modal) instability of a disperse medium, which consists in examining the energy of linear combinations of three-dimensional modes with given wave vectors, is proposed. An algebraic instability of a dusty-gas flow in a plane channel with a nonuniform particle distribution in the form of two layers arranged symmetrically with respect to the flow axis is investigated. For all possible values of governing parameters, the optimal disturbances of the disperse flow have zero wavenumber in the flow direction, which indicates their banded structure (“streaks”). The presence of dispersed particles in the flow increases the algebraic instability, since the energy of optimal disturbances in the disperse medium exceeds that for the pure-fluid flow. It is found that for a homogeneous particle distribution the increase in the energy of optimal perturbations is proportional to the square of the sum of unity and the particle mass concentration and is almost independent of particle inertia. For a non-uniform distribution of the dispersed phase, the largest increase in the initial energy of disturbances is achieved in the case when the dust layers are located in the middle between the center line of the flow and the walls.     

Linear stability of two-dimensional steady flow in wavy-walled channels

Linear stability of fully developed two-dimensional periodic steady flows in sinusoidal wavy-walled channels is investigated numerically. Two types of channels are considered: the geometry of wavy walls is identical and the location of the crest of the lower and upper walls coincides (symmetric channel) or the crest of the lower wall corresponds to the furrow of the upper wall (sinuous channel). It is found that the critical Reynolds number is substantially lower than that for plane channel flow and that when the non-dimensionalized wall variation amplitude is smaller than a critical value (about 0.26 for symmetric channel, 0.28 for sinuous channel), critical modes are three-dimensional stationary and for larger , two-dimensional oscillatory instabilities set in. Critical Reynolds numbers of sinuous channel flows are smaller for three-dimensional disturbances and larger for two-dimensional disturbances than those of symmetric channel flows. The disturbance velocity distribution obtained by the linear stability analysis suggests that the three-dimensional stationary instability is mainly caused by local concavity of basic flows near the reattachment point, while the critical two-dimensional mode resembles closely the Tollmien–Schlichting wave for plane Poiseuille flow.     

Linear stability and dynamics of viscoelastic flows using time-dependent numerical simulations

Ultimately, numerical simulation of viscoelastic flows will prove most useful if the calculations can predict the details of steady-state processing conditions as well as the linear stability and non-linear dynamics of these states. We use finite element spatial discretization coupled with a semi-implicit θ-method for time integration to explore the linear and non-linear dynamics of two, two-dimensional viscoelastic flows: plane Couette flow and pressure-driven flow past a linear, periodic array of cylinders in a channel. For the upper convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid, the linear stability analysis for the plane Couette flow can be performed in closed form and the two most dangerous, although always stable, eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are known in closed form. The eigenfunctions are non-orthogonal in the usual inner product and hence, the linear dynamics are expected to exhibit non-normal (non-exponential) behavior at intermediate times. This is demonstrated by numerical integration and by the definition of a suitable growth function based on the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors. Transient growth of the disturbances at intermediate times is predicted by the analysis for the UCM fluid and is demonstrated in linear dynamical simulations for the Oldroyd-B model. Simulations for the fully non-linear equations show the amplification of this transient growth that is caused by non-linear coupling between the non-orthogonal eigenvectors. The finite element analysis of linear stability to two-dimensional disturbances is extended to the two-dimensional flow past a linear, periodic array of cylinders in a channel, where the steady-state motion itself is known only from numerical calculations. For a single cylinder or widely separated cylinders, the flow is stable for the range of Deborah number (De) accessible in the calculations. Moreover, the dependence of the most dangerous eigenvalue on De≡λV/R resembles its behavior in simple shear flow, as does the spatial structure of the associated eigenfunction. However, for closely spaced cylinders, an instability is predicted with the critical Deborah number De_c scaling linearly with the dimensionless separation distance L between the cylinders, that is, the critical Deborah number De_Lc≡λV/L is shown to be an O(1) constant. The unstable eigenfunction appears as a family of two-dimensional vortices close to the channel wall which travel downstream. This instability is possibly caused by the interaction between a shear mode which approaches neutral stability for De ≫ 1 and the periodic modulation caused by the presence of the cylinders. Nonlinear time-dependent simulations show that this secondary flow eventually evolves into a stable limit cycle, indicative of a supercritical Hopf bifurcation from the steady base state.     

Stability of some shear flows for concentrated suspensions

In this paper we investigate the stability of some viscometric flows for a concentrated suspension model which allows for the effects of shear-induced migration, including plane and circular Couette and Poiseulle flows, and unbounded and bounded torsional flows. In the bounded torsional flow, where its radial outer boundary is assumed frictionless, an exact closeform solution is given. With the exception of torsional flows, we find that a limit point for all the steady-state solutions can exist for certain range in the parameter values. In all cases, disturbances can persist for a long time, O (H ²/a ²), where H is a dimension of the flow field, and a is the particles' radius.     

Universal threshold of the transition to localized turbulence in shear flows

Experimental and numerical studies have shown similarities between localized turbulence in channel and pipe flows. By scaling analysis of a disturbed-flow model, this paper proposes a local Reynolds number Re_M to characterize the threshold of transition triggered by finite-amplitude disturbances. The Re_M represents the maximum contribution of the basic flow to the momentum ratio between the nonlinear convection and the viscous diffusion. The lower critical Re_M observed in experiments of plane Poiseuille flow, pipe Poiseuille flow and plane Couette flow are all close to 323, indicating the uniformity of mechanism governing the transition to localized turbulence.     

On Stability of Plane and Cylindrical Poiseuille Flows of Nanofluids

Stability of plane and cylindrical Poiseuille flows of nanofluids to comparatively small perturbations is studied. Ethylene glycol-based nanofluids with silicon dioxide particles are considered. The volume fraction of nanoparticles is varied from 0 to 10%, and the particle size is varied from 10 to 210 nm. Neutral stability curves are constructed, and the most unstable modes of disturbances are found. It is demonstrated that nanofluids are less stable than base fluids; the presence of particles leads to additional destabilization of the flow. The greater the volume fraction of nanoparticles and the smaller the particle size, the greater the degree of this additional destabilization. In this case, the critical Reynolds number significantly decreases, and the spectrum of unstable disturbances becomes different; in particular, even for the volume fraction of particles equal to 5%, the wave length of the most unstable disturbances of the nanofluid with particles approximately 20 nm in size decreases almost by a factor of 4.     

Criteria of hydrodynamic instability of a phase interface in hydrothermal systems

The loss of stability of a vertical phase flow in a geothermal system in which a liquid layer overlies a vapor layer is considered. The loss of stability criteria are obtained in explicit form. It is found that when the physical parameters of the system are varied the transition to phase interface instability can be realized by means of one of the following mechanisms: the transition occurs spontaneously for any perturbation wavenumber (degenerate case); an unstable wavenumber arises at infinity; the instability threshold is determined by a double zero wavenumber. In the latter case the transition to instability is accompanied by simple resonance bifurcation. As a result of this bifurcation, secondary regimes dependent on the horizontal coordinate branch off from the basic regime describing the horizontally-homogeneous vertical phase flows.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, 2004, pp. 100–109. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Ilichev and Tsypkin.     

Stability of viscoelastic flow around periodic arrays of cylinders

Low Reynolds number flow of Newtonian and viscoelastic Boger fluids past periodic square arrays of cylinders with a porosity of 0.45 and 0.86 has been studied. Pressure drop measurements along the flow direction as a function of flow rate as well as flow visualization has been performed to investigate the effect of fluid elasticity on stability of this class of flows. It has been shown that below a critical Weissenberg number (We_c), the flow in both porosity cells is a two-dimensional steady flow, however, pressure fluctuations appear above We_c which is 2.95±0.25 for the 0.45 porosity cell and 0.95±0.08 for the higher porosity cell. Specifically, in the low porosity cell as the Weissenberg number is increased above We_c a transition between a steady two-dimensional to a transient three-dimensional flow occurs. However, in the high porosity cell a transition between a steady two-dimensional to a steady three-dimensional flow consisting of periodic cellular structures along the length of the cylinder in the space between the first and the second cylinder occurs while past the second cylinder another transition to a transient three-dimensional flow occurs giving rise to time- dependent cellular structures of various wavelengths along the length of the cylinder. Overall, the experiments indicate that viscoelastic flow past periodic arrays of cylinders of various porosities is susceptible to purely elastic instabilities. Moreover, the instability observed in lower porosity cells where a vortex is present between the cylinders in the base flow is amplifieds spatially, that is energy from the mean flow is continuously transferred to the disturbance flow along the flow direction. This instability gives rise to a rapid increase in flow resistance. In higher porosity cells where a vortex between the cylinders is not present in the base flow, the energy associated with the disturbance flow is not greatly changed along the flow direction past the second cylinder. In addition, it has been shown that in both flow cells the instability is a sensitive function of the relaxation time of the fluid. Hence, the instability in this class of flows is a strong function of the base flow kinematics (i.e., curvature of streamlines near solid surfaces), We and the relaxation time of the fluid.     

On the stability of plane parallel viscoelastic shear flows in the limit of infinite Weissenberg and Reynolds numbers

Elastic effects on the hydrodynamic instability of inviscid parallel shear flows are investigated through a linear stability analysis. We focus on the upper convected Maxwell model in the limit of infinite Weissenberg and Reynolds numbers. We study the effects of elasticity on the instability of a few classes of simple parallel flows, specifically plane Poiseuille and Couette flows, the hyperbolic-tangent shear layer and the Bickley jet.The equation for stability is derived and solved numerically using the spectral Chebyshev collocation method. This algorithm is computationally efficient and accurate in reproducing the eigenvalues. We consider flows bounded by walls as well as flows bounded by free surfaces. In the inviscid, nonelastic case all the flows we study are unstable for free surfaces. In the case of wall bounded flow, there are instabilities in the shear layer and Bickley jet flows. In all cases, the effect of elasticity is to reduce and ultimately suppress the inviscid instability.     

Coaxial-disk flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid: exact solution and stability

This paper reports an exact solution for the coaxial disk flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid. The flow is approximately generated by the parallel-plate viscometer. Asymptotic and numerical solutions are reported showing that there is a critical Weissenberg number based on the angular velocity and the Maxwellian relaxation time, above which the flow is unstable. A linearized stability analysis for the basic inertialess flow confirms this numerical instability and yields the critical Weissenberg number.     

On the stability of a dumbbell molecule in a continuous squeezing flow

As a brief sequel to our previous stability analysis of dumbbell molecule in torsional flow [1] we demonstrate that the motion of a dumbbell molecule in a continuous squeezing flow is also unstable at sufficiently large. Weissenberg number. The cause of instability in the present case, however, is quite different from the previous case. The mechanism responsible for triggering the instability is mainly attributed to the additional elongational flow component over the basic shear flow. The present flow situation is also different from the previous case in that the system is stochasticaly non-stationary, hence no steady-state average quantities can be obtained statistically.     

On the steady simple shear flows of the one-mode Giesekus fluid

Analytical solutions for the plane Couette flow and the plane Poiseuille flow of the one-mode Giesekus fluid without any retardation time have been obtained by considering the domain of definition for each of the two branch solutions which arise due to the presence of the quadratic stress terms in the constitutive equations. For each fixed value of the mobility parametera, the limiting value of the Weissenberg number for the upper branch solution, i.e., the physically realistic solution is determined in terms of the corresponding dimensionless shear stress for the plane Couette flow and in terms of the corresponding dimensionless pressure gradient for the plane Poiseuille flow. In the case of the plane Couette flow, it is shown that fora falling in the range 0a1/2 only the physically realistic solution exists while for 1/2<a 1 a nonphysical solution coexists with the realistic one. In the case of the plane Poiseuille flow, it is shown that the non-physical solution cannot even exist around the center plane of the channel, and the effects of the mobility parameter and the dimensionless pressure gradient on the flow variables are investigated. Possible extensions of the present approach to other steady simple shear flows with and without the introduction of the retardation time are also discussed.     

The stability of the modified plane Poiseuille flow in the presence of a transverse magnetic field

The stability against small disturbances of the pressure-driven plane laminar motion of an electrically conducting fluid under a transverse magnetic field is investigated. Assuming that the outer regions adjacent to the fluid layer are electrically non-conducting and not ferromagnetic, the appropriate boundary conditions on the magnetic field perturbations are presented. The Chebyshev collocation method is adopted to obtain the eigenvalue equation, which is then solved numerically. The critical Reynolds number R_c, the critical wave number α_c, and the critical wave speed c_c are obtained for wide ranges of the magnetic Prandtl number P_m and the Hartmann number M. It is found that except for the case when P_m is sufficiently small, the magnetic field has both stabilizing and destabilizing effects on the fluid flow, and that for a fixed value of M the fluid flow becomes more unstable as P_m increases.     

Effect of purely elastic flow instability on molecular conformation and drag

Linear stability analysis has shown that viscoelastic creeping flow of an Oldroyd-B liquid through a sinusoidal channel is unstable to stationary, wall-localized and short wavelength perturbations [B. Sadanandan, R. Sureshkumar, Global linear stability analysis of non-separated viscoelastic flow through a periodically constricted channel, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 122 (2004) 55]. In this work, time-dependent simulations are performed to determine the nonlinear evolution of finite amplitude disturbances in the post-critical flow regime. It is shown that a nonlinear transition, which is facilitated by a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation, establishes a finite amplitude state (FAS) in which the average polymer stretch is highly modulated. The maximum normal stress, observed at the channel nip, can increase by up to approximately 100% when the Weissenberg number, defined as the ratio of the fluid relaxation time to an inverse characteristic shear rate, is increased by only 10% beyond its critical value. This is attributed to the amplification of configurational perturbations by the base flow shear rate, which attains its maximum at the channel nip. The effect of finite chain extensibility on the critical condition and nonlinear instability is investigated using the FENE-CR model. The stabilizing effect of finite extensibility can be expressed through a renormalization of the Weissenberg number by accounting for the screening effect of the nonlinear force law on the transmission of configurational perturbations to polymeric stress. The principal features of the FAS are qualitatively model-independent. The FAS exhibits a small, but numerically perceptible increase in the friction factor as compared to the base flow. The implication of the findings on the experimentally observed flow resistance enhancement phenomenon in viscoelastic creeping flows through converging/diverging geometries is discussed.