Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 April 2006
Disturbances in a two-dimensional jet of a viscous incompressible fluid are examined for the case where the jet has a parabolic velocity distribution at the nozzle mouth. Partial differential equations for a finite amplitude disturbance are solved by use of the finite-difference approximation, in which case the jet is analogous to that excited externally. Numerical calculations for various disturbance amplitudes clarify the nonlinearity of the solution. Moreover, the behaviour of the finite disturbance is compared with the behaviour of an infinitesimal disturbance determined from a linearized stability theory. Streaklines calculated from the finite amplitude solution indicate ‘rolling-up’. The computations are carried out over the range of jet Reynolds numbers 500-2000.