The stability of the decaying flow in a suddenly blocked channel

P. Hall, K. H. Parker

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Abstract

The stability of the decaying laminar flow in a suddenly blocked channel is investigated. The partial differential system governing the stability of the flow is solved using a WKB type of approach. It is shown that the first term of the WKB expansion of the disturbance velocity field is just that obtained by a quasi-steady approach. The flow is found to be unstable at quite small Reynolds numbers. This instability is associated with the inflexional nature of the velocity profiles of the decaying flow.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)305-314
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Fluid Mechanics
Volume75
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 1976
Externally publishedYes

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