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Rayleigh–Taylor mixing between density stratified layers

  • R. J. R. Williams
Abstract

We have performed numerical calculations of fluid mixing driven by Rayleigh–Taylor instability for density profiles based on the stratified density experiments of Lawrie & Dalziel (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 688, 2011, pp. 507–527) and Davies Wykes & Dalziel (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 756, 2014, pp. 1027–1057). We find that the late-time mixing profiles are similar to their experimental results for similar initial conditions; we consider a range of additional initial conditions to investigate the robustness of the results. A model for the late-time structure of the mixing layer, based on the maximization of configurational entropy, is compared with the results of the numerical calculations, and shows good agreement.

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Email address for correspondence: robin.williams@awe.co.uk
References
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Journal of Fluid Mechanics
  • ISSN: 0022-1120
  • EISSN: 1469-7645
  • URL: /core/journals/journal-of-fluid-mechanics
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