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The effects of density difference and surface tension on the development of Rayleigh-Taylor instability of an interface between fluid media

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Abstract

To describe the evolution of an interface between two immiscible media, an equation for a volume fraction function is derived, with the interface curvature effect being described by a “continuum model” of a surface tension force. A numerical study of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability problem is performed for different density ratios ρ 1/ρ 2 on the interface, including the real cases corresponding to available experimental data. At the initial stage, the instability development is independent of ρ 1/ρ 2 and consistent with the Taylor linear theory, then (for ρ 1/ρ 2 < 5) a spiral-like Kelvin-Helmholtz instability structure is observed. For ρ 1/ρ 2 < 2, the instability development pattern remains symmetric until large times when (same as for large ρ 1/ρ 2) an asymmetry appears. The surface tension and the viscosity result in the suppression of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability disturbances and secondary small-scale irregularities of the interface.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, ul. Institutskaya 4/1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

    S. N. Yakovenko

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  1. S. N. Yakovenko
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Correspondence to S. N. Yakovenko.

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Original Russian Text © S.N. Yakovenko, 2014, published in Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, 2014, Vol. 49, No. 6, pp. 54–69.

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Yakovenko, S.N. The effects of density difference and surface tension on the development of Rayleigh-Taylor instability of an interface between fluid media. Fluid Dyn 49, 748–760 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0015462814060064

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0015462814060064

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