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Experimental and theoretical investigation of the stability of air flow over a water surface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

A. K. Gupta
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts Present address: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
M. T. Landahl
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts Present address: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
E. L. Mollo-Christensen
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Abstract

An experimental investigation of the instability of a laminar air flow over water shows two distinct modes of unstable oscillations as predicted by theory. The Tollmien–Schlichting waves instability could be excited by a ribbon vibrating in the air, and the neutral stability curve determined. The water wave instability mode could be excited by a ribbon vibrating in the water. The growth rates of these waves show only fair agreement with theoretical predictions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1968 Cambridge University Press

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