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Rayleigh-Taylor instability of fluid layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

G. R. Baker ,
R. L. Mccrory ,
C. P. Verdon  and
S. A. Orszag
G. R. Baker
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
R. L. Mccrory
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, NY 14627, USA
C. P. Verdon
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, NY 14627, USA
S. A. Orszag
Affiliation:
Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University, NJ 08540, USA
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Abstract

It is shown that the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of an accelerating incompressible, inviscid fluid layer is the result of pressure gradients, not gravitational acceleration. As in the classical Rayleigh-Taylor instability of a semi-infinite layer, finite fluid layers form long thin spikes whose structure is essentially independent of the initial thickness of the layer. A pressure maximum develops above the spike that effectively uncouples the flow in the spike from the rest of the fluid. Interspersed between the spikes are rising bubbles. The bubble motion is seriously affected by the thickness of the layer. For thin layers, the bubbles accelerate upwards exponentially in time and the layer thins so rapidly that it may disrupt at finite times.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 178 , May 1987 , pp. 161 - 175
Copyright
© 1987 Cambridge University Press

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