Work

Unification theory of instabilities of visco-diffusive swirling flows

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: By employing local geometrical optics stability analysis adapted to visco-diffusive flows, we derive novel explicit instability criteria for isothermal and non-isothermal swirling flows, induced by the combination of rotation and shear in orthogonal directions and ubiquitous in various natural phenomena, such as tornadoes and tropical cyclones. Our advance stems from an observation overlooked in previous research: the neutral stability curves in these problems possess an envelope, which we have analytically determined using the connection between envelopes and polynomial discriminants. Our analytical results offer a general theory of instabilities across a wide range of swirling flows.

Source: Physical Review Fluids

DOI: 10.1103/physrevfluids.9.124802

Authors: Oleg N. Kirillov, Innocent Mutabazi

Institutions: Northumbria University, Université Le Havre Normandie, Normandie Université, Laboratoire Ondes et Milieux Complexes

Language: English

Topic: Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows

Subfield: Computational Mechanics

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Centre national d'études spatiales, Midwest Forage Association, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales

Award: G3742275814