Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 11, 2025

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Quasi-irrotational growth rate for the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in accelerated elastic and viscous layers
S A Piriz1, A R Piriz2, N A Tahir3
1Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Instituto de Investigaciones Energéticas, E.I.I.A., and CYTEMA, 45071 Toledo, Spain.
Abstract:
A quasi-irrotational approximation is used to calculate the growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in uniformly accelerated elastic or viscous layers, which, in addition to the unstable interface, also have a free surface. The approximation yields simple and analytical expressions for the growth rate which are still very accurate. In the limiting case of semi-infinite media, for which the well-known results of the purely irrotational approximation are retrieved, the maximum error is about 11-15%, and the accuracy progressively improves for finite thickness layers becoming exact in the very thin limit. This excellent agreement with the exact growth rate obtained by normal modes would indicate that vorticity, while introducing a considerable complexity in the mathematical problem, does not play a very significant role in the development of the instability.
More Related Videos
11:51Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
10:03Uncoupling Coriolis Force and Rotating Buoyancy Effects on Full-Field Heat Transfer Properties of a Rotating Channel
Published on: October 5, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Irrotational Flow
Steady, Laminar Flow in Circular Tubes
Navier–Stokes Equations
Euler's Equations of Motion
Velocity Potential
Stokes' Law
The expression for the force on a solid spherical object in a fluid is called Stokes' law. Stokes' law is valid only...