Gravity-driven creeping flow of two adjacent layers through a channel and down a plane wall (Q4236733)

The author studies the linear stability of the interface between: a) two adjacent viscous layers flowing due to gravity through an inclined or vertical channel formed by two parallel walls; b) two superimposed liquid films flowing down an inclined or vertical plane wall, in the limit of Stokes flow. In case of channel flow, when the fluids are stably stratified, the flow is shown to be neutrally stable when the surface tension vanishes and the channel is vertical. Otherwise the flow is stable. For a flow of two superimposed films along an inclined plate under gravity, the flow becomes unstable if the viscosity of the fluid near the plane is less than the viscosity of the top fluid, even in the absence of fluid inertia. The author also investigates nonlinear stability under finite-amplitude two-dimensional perturbations and establishes that the disturbances of sufficiently large amplitude can cause a permanent deformation in which the interface folds or develops elongated fingers.