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Instability of a water-spout flow

Abstract:

The paper studies the linear stability of a steady axisymmetric air-water motion in a vertical sealed cylinder, driven by the rotating top disk, motivated by possible applications in aerial bioreactors. As the flow strength Re increases, a vortex breakdown bubble (VBB) emerges near the bottom center and expands toward the interface. Regions of clockwise meridional circulation of air and water become separated by a thin anticlockwise circulation layer (TCL) adjacent to the interface in water. This study reveals that instability develops for larger Re than those at which VBB and TCL emerge. The instability focuses in the air region being typically of shear-layer type. The instability is centrifugal if the air volume fraction is small.