Stability of jets and wakes confined by compliant walls

Abstract

The absolute instability of jets and wake flows have often been studied when either unconfined in the flow normal direction, or when confined by solid, impermeable walls. In this study, we confine the flow by compliant, or flexible, walls that are only able to move in the flow normal direction. By using a local instability analysis, we find that wall compliance can have a significant effect on existing flow instabilities and can even induce new absolutely unstable modes.