Instability at the interface between two shearing fluids in a channel

Abstract

The linear stability of plane Couette flow composed of two immiscible fluids in layers is considered. The fluids have different viscosities and densities. For the case of equal densities, there is a critical Reynolds number above which the interfacial mode of the bounded problem is approximated by that of the unbounded problem for wavelengths that are not short enough to be in the asymptotic short-wavelength range, as well as for short waves. The full linear analysis reveals unstable situations missed out by the long- and short-wavelength asymptotic analyses, but which have comparable orders of magnitudes for the growth rates. For the case of unequal densities, it is found that the arrangement with the heavier fluid on top can be linearly stable if the viscosity stratification, volume ratio, surface tension, Reynolds number, and Froude number are favorable.