Linear temporal stability analysis on the inviscid sheared convective boundary layer flow

Abstract

A linear temporal stability analysis is conducted for inviscid sheared convective boundary layer flow, in which the sheared instability with stable stratification coexists with and caps over the thermal instability with unstable stratification. The classic Taylor–Goldstein equation is applied with different stratification factors Js and Jb in the Brunt–Väisälä frequency, respectively. Two shear-thermal hybrid instabilities, the hybrid shear stratified (HSS) and hybrid Rayleigh–Bénard (HRB) modes, are obtained by solving the eigenvalue problems. It is found that the temporal growth rates of the HSS and HRB modes vary differently with increased Jb in two distinct wavenumber (α̃) regions defined by the intersection point between the stability boundaries of the HSS and HRB modes. Based on Jb,cr where the temporal growth rate of the HSS and HRB are equal, a map of the unique critical boundary, which separates the effective regions of the HSS and HRB modes, is constructed and found to be dependent on Js, Jb, and α̃. The examinations of the subordinate eigenfunctions indicate that the shear instability is well developed in the HSS mode, in which the large vortex structures may prevail and suppress the formation of convective rolls; the shear instability in the HRB mode is either “partly developed” when Jb<Jb,cr or “undeveloped” when Jb>Jb,cr, thus only plays a secondary role to modify the dominant convective rolls, and as Jb increases, the eigenfunctions of the HSS mode exhibit different transitional behaviors in the two regions, signifying the “shear enhancement” and “shear sheltering” of the entrainment of buoyancy flux.