Investigation of the spectral characteristics of a thermoviscous fluid flow in an annular channel

Abstract

The flow of a thermoviscous model fluid in an annular channel with a given temperature field is considered. The problem of the stability of the flow of a thermoviscous fluid is solved on the basis of the generalized equation by the spectral method of expansion in Chebyshev polynomials of the first kind. The effect of taking into account the exponential dependence of the fluid viscosity on temperature and channel geometry on the spectral characteristics of the equation of hydrodynamic stability of an incompressible fluid flow in a flat channel for various wall temperatures is studied. Spectral patterns of eigenvalues of the generalized equation are constructed. The spectral characteristics determine the structure of the eigenfunctions and the critical parameters of the flow of a thermoviscous fluid. In this case, the eigenfunctions demonstrate the behavior of transverse velocity perturbations, their possible growth or decay with time. It is shown that the structure of the spectra largely depends both on the properties of the liquid, determined by the index of the functional dependence of viscosity, and on the geometry of the channel. It has been established that for small values of the thermoviscosity parameter, the spectrum is comparable to the spectrum for an isothermal fluid flow in a flat channel, however, as it increases, the number of eigenvalues and their density increase, that is, there are more points at which the problem has nonzero amplitudes of transverse velocity perturbations. The stability of a thermoviscous fluid flow depends on the presence of an eigenvalue with a positive imaginary part among the entire set of found eigenvalues for fixed parameters of the Reynolds number and wave number. It is shown that, at fixed values of the Reynolds number and wave number, the flow can become unstable with an increase in the thermoviscosity parameter.