The ‘zoo’ of secondary instabilities precursory to stratified shear flow transition. Part 1 Shear aligned convection, pairing, and braid instabilities

• Published in: Journal of fluid mechanics Vol. 708; pp. 5 - 44
• Main Authors: Mashayek, A., Peltier, W. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 10.10.2012
• Subjects: Braiding; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Fluid mechanics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models; Hydrodynamic stability; Instability; Instability of shear flows; Physics; Reynolds number; Secondary instability; Shear; Stability; Stability analysis; Stagnation point; Transition to turbulence; Turbulence; Turbulent flows, convection, and heat transfer; Wavenumber; stratified turbulencence; shear layer turbulence; transition to turbulence; Kelvin Helmholtz instability; Shear flow; Hydrodynamic instability; Modelling; Secondary flow; Geophysical fluid dynamics; Turbulent laminar transition

We study the competition between various secondary instabilities that co-exist in a preturbulent stratified parallel flow subject to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. In particular, we investigate whether a secondary braid instability might emerge prior to the overturning of the statically unstable regi...