Interfacial instabilities in a stratified flow of two superposed fluids

Abstract

Here we shall present a linear stability analysis of a laminar, stratified flow of two superposed fluids which are a clear liquid and a suspension of solid particles. The investigation is based upon the assumption that the concentration remains constant within the suspension layer. Even for moderate flow-rates the base-state results for a shear induced resuspension flow justify the latter assumption. The numerical solutions display the existence of two different branches that contribute to convective instability: long and short waves which coexist in a certain range of parameters. Also, a range exists where the flow is absolutely unstable. That means a convectively unstable resuspension flow can be only observed for Reynolds numbers larger than a lower, critical Reynolds number but still smaller than a second critical Reynolds number. For flow rates which give rise to a Reynolds number larger than the second critical Reynolds number, the flow is absolutely unstable. In some cases, however, there exists a third bound beyond that the flow is convectively unstable again. Experiments show the same phenomena: for small flow-rates short waves were usually observed but occasionally also the coexistence of short and long waves. These findings are qualitatively in good agreement with the linear stability analysis. Larger flow-rates in the range of the second critical Reynolds number yield strong interfacial waves with wave breaking and detached particles. In this range, the measured flow-parameters, like the resuspension height and the pressure drop are far beyond the theoretical results. Evidently, a further increase of the Reynolds number indicates the transition to a less wavy interface. Finally, the linear stability analysis also predicts interfacial waves in the case of relatively small suspension heights. These results are in accordance with measurements for ripple-type instabilities as they occur under laminar and viscous conditions for a mono-layer of particles.