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On the stability of a heterogeneous shear layer subject to a body force

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

J. Menkes
J. Menkes
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
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Abstract

The effects of density variation and body force on the stability of a heterogeneous horizontal shear layer are investigated. The density is assumed to decrease exponentially with height, and the body force is assumed to be derivable from a potential; the velocity distribution in the shear layer is taken to be U(y) = tanh y. The method of small disturbances is employed to obtain a family of neutral stability curves depending on the choice of the Richardson number. It is demonstrated, furthermore, that the value of the critical Richardson number depends on the magnitude of the non-dimensional density gradient.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , September 1961 , pp. 284 - 290
Copyright
© 1961 Cambridge University Press

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