On the instability of plane liquid sheets in two gas streams of unequal velocities (Q1912990)

The linear hydrodynamic stability of a two-dimensional viscous incompressible fluid sheet in an inviscid gas medium with different gas velocities on two sides of the sheet is studied using normal mode analysis. The asymptotic behavior of the dispersion relation between the complex eigenfrequency, the disturbance wave number, the phase difference for small gas velocity gradient, and various wavelength numbers (large or small compared to the thickness of the liquid sheet) is analyzed. It is found that there exist two independent unstable modes. Fluid viscosity complicates dual effects on the instability, whereas the surface tension is always stabilizing. The instability is similar to the classical Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and is due to the interfacial pressure fluctuations.