The Influence of High Frequency Tangential Vibrations on the Stability of the Fluid Interfaces in Microgravity

Abstract

The influence of high frequency vibrations on the stability of fluid interface is investigated. The autonomous equations for the mean values and the amplitude of pulsative components are derived. Three problems are studied on the base of obtained equations: quasi-equilibrium states of free surface, quasi-equilibrium structures and stability of the plane interface under the influence of high frequency horizontal vibrations and the stability of cylindrical liquid zone surrounded by coaxial layer of liquid of different density under the influence of axial vibrations and rotation. The terrestrial experiments with two immiscible fluids of different densities filled in the horizontal layer displayed the horizontal vibrations are made. It has been shown that the high frequency tangential vibrations can lead to the appearance of quasi-stationary relief on the fluid interface. The critical conditions for the onset of relief and the character of its generation are determined with the help of Lyapunov-Schmidt method. The evolution of forms of the interface with the growth of the intensity of vibrations is studied by finite-difference method and experimentally. The sequence of the spatial period doubling bifurcations and the splitting of the layer into the system of strata with the growth of amplitude of the vibrations velocity are found out.