Influence of Velocity Shear on the Rayleigh-Taylor Instability

Abstract

The influence of a transverse velocity shear on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is investigated. It is found that a sheared velocity flow can substantially reduce the growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the short wavelength regime (i.e., kL > 1 where L is the scale length of the density inhomogeneity), and causes the growth rate to maximize at kL < 1.0. Applications of this result to ionospheric phenomena (equatorial spread F (ESF) and ionospheric plasma clouds) are discussed. In particular, the effect of shear could account for, at times, the 100's of km modulation observed on the bottomside of the ESF ionosphere and the km scale size wavelengths observed in barium cloud prompt striation phenomena. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 16, 1981
Accession Number
ADA108800

Entities

People

  • Joseph D. Huba
  • P. N. Guzdar
  • P. Satyanarayana
  • Sidney L. Ossakow

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Collisions
  • Corporations
  • Department Of Defense
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Geological Phenomena
  • High Altitude
  • Instability
  • Long Wavelengths
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Military Research
  • Physics
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Rayleigh Taylor Instability
  • Short Wavelengths
  • Systems Engineering

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.