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Experimental investigation of three-dimensional Rayleigh–Taylor instability of a gaseous interface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2024

Yu Liang Open the ORCID record for Yu Liang [Opens in a new window] ,
Ahmed Alkindi ,
Khalid Alzeyoudi ,
Lili Liu ,
Mohamed Ali Open the ORCID record for Mohamed Ali [Opens in a new window]  and
Nader Masmoudi
Yu Liang*
Affiliation:
NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE
Ahmed Alkindi
Affiliation:
NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE
Khalid Alzeyoudi
Affiliation:
NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE
Lili Liu
Affiliation:
NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE
Mohamed Ali
Affiliation:
NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE
Nader Masmoudi
Affiliation:
NYUAD Research Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, UAE Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, 251 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10012, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Validating the theoretical work on Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) through experiments with an exceptionally clean and well-characterized initial condition has been a long-standing challenge. Experiments were conducted to study the three-dimensional RTI of an SF$_6$–air interface at moderate Atwood numbers. A novel soap film technique was developed to create a discontinuous gaseous interface with controllable initial conditions. Spectrum analysis revealed that the initial perturbation of the soap film interface is half the size of an entire single-mode perturbation. The correlation between the initial interface perturbation and Atwood numbers was determined. Due to the steep and highly curved feature of the initial soap film interface, the early-time evolution of RTI exhibits significant nonlinearity. In the quasi-steady regime, various potential flow models accurately predict the late-time bubble velocities by considering the channel width as the perturbation wavelength. Differently, the late-time spike velocities are described by these potential flow models using the wavelength of the entire single-mode perturbation. These findings indicate that the bubble evolution is influenced primarily by the spatial constraint imposed by walls, while the spike evolution is influenced mainly by the initial curvature of the spike tip. Consequently, a recent potential flow model was adopted to describe the time-varying amplitude growth induced by RTI. Furthermore, the self-similar growth factors for bubbles and spikes were determined from experiments and compared with existing studies, revealing that a large amplitude in the initial soap film interface promotes the spike development.

JFM classification

Convection: Buoyancy-driven instability Mixing: Turbulent mixing
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 994 , 10 September 2024 , A7
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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