Curvature suppresses the Rayleigh-Taylor instability

• Published in: Physics of fluids (1994) Vol. 26; no. 5
• Main Authors: Trinh, Philippe H., Kim, Hyoungsoo, Hammoud, Naima, Howell, Peter D., Chapman, S. Jonathan, Stone, Howard A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melville American Institute of Physics 01.05.2014; American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• Subjects: Bond number; CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; Dynamic stability; Film thickness; Fluid dynamics; Parameter identification; Parameter modification; Physics; Radius of curvature; Substrates; Surface tension; Taylor instability
• ISSN: 1070-6631; 1089-7666
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4876476

The dynamics of a thin liquid film on the underside of a curved cylindrical substrate is studied. The evolution of the liquid layer is investigated as the film thickness and the radius of curvature of the substrate are varied. A dimensionless parameter (a modified Bond number) that incorporates both geometric parameters, gravity, and surface tension is identified, and allows the observations to be classified according to three different flow regimes: stable films, films with transient growth of perturbations followed by decay, and unstable films. Experiments and linear stability theory confirm that below a critical value of the Bond number curvature of the substrate suppresses the Rayleigh-Taylor instability.