Nonlinear electrohydrodynamic Rayleigh–Taylor instability with mass and heat transfer: effect of a normal field

Abstract

The nonlinear electrohydrodynamic stability of two superposed dielectric fluids with interfacial transfer of mass and heat is presented for layers of finite thickness. The fluids are subjected to a normal electric field in the absence of surface charges. Using a technique based on the method of multiple scales it is shown that the evolution of the amplitude is governed by a Ginzburg–Landau equation. When the mass and heat transfer are neglected, the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation is obtained. Further, it is shown that, near the marginal state, a nonlinear diffusion equation is obtained in the presence of mass and heat transfer. The various stability criteria are discussed both analytically and numerically and the stability diagrams are obtained.