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Instabilities in buoyancy-driven boundary-layer flows in a stably stratified medium

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Abstract

An analysis is made of the stability of a buoyancy boundary layer existing on an inclined wall which is either heated or cooled relative to ambient, stably stratified fluid. A Boussinesq fluid, with various Prandtl numbers, is considered. Detailed calculations of the linear stability boundaries are made for both streamwise periodic, travelling disturbances and spanwise periodic, stationary disturbances. The former type is found to become unstable first for all angles of tilt, but calculations at a particular angle indicate that the latter can have a higher growth rate once the Reynolds number is sufficiently above the critical value. Energy integrals are evaluated at the critical Reynolds number for various angles of tilt in order to clarify the mechanisms for energy transfer to the disturbance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanics and Structures Dept., School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California, 90024, Los Angeles, Calif., USA

    P. A. Iyer

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  1. P. A. Iyer
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Iyer, P.A. Instabilities in buoyancy-driven boundary-layer flows in a stably stratified medium. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 5, 53–66 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02188311

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02188311

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