Title
Rayleigh-Taylor instability of steady fronts described by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation
Date Issued
01 June 2014
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
American Institute of Physics Inc.
Abstract
We study steady thin reaction fronts described by the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation that separates fluids of different densities. This system may lead to hydrodynamic instabilities as buoyancy forces interact with the propagating fronts in a two-dimensional slab. We use Darcy's law to describe the fluid motion in this geometry. Steady front profiles can be flat, axisymmetric, or nonaxisymmetric, depending on the slab width, the density gradient, and fluid viscosity. Unstable flat fronts can be stabilized having a density gradient with the less dense fluid on top of a denser fluid. We find the steady front solutions from the nonlinear equations executing a linear stability analysis to determine their stability. We show regions of bistability where stable nonaxisymmetric and axisymmetric fronts can coexist. We also consider the stability of steady solutions in large domains, which can be constructed by dividing the domain into smaller parts or cells.
Volume
24
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Física y Astronomía
Meteorología y ciencias atmosféricas
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85029467748
Source
Chaos
ISSN of the container
10541500
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported by a grant from the Dirección General de Investigación of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) through Grant No. DGI-2013-0028 and a Huiracocha 2011 grant awarded by the Graduate School of the PUCP.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus