Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Abstract: In this paper I analyze the onset of Rayleigh-Taylor instability between two linear viscoelastic fluids assuming that the perturbations at the interface are small. In the first half, the paper analyzes a stratified viscoelastic fluid in which I prove that the perturbations rise or fall exponentially without oscillating. The second half of the paper examines the effect of electric and magnetic fields on viscoelastic fluids. I show that it is possible to choose electric or magnetic field gradient such that the effective acceleration due to gravity is zero. If a heavy Newtonian fluid rests on top of a lighter Newtonian fluid such a choice of field gradient would have rendered the arrangement stable. If the fluids are viscoelastic, I show that a similar arrangement is unstable.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Joshi, Amey
Institution: Tata Consultancy Services (India)
Language: English
Subfield: Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
Field: Chemical Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1543855117