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KelvinHelmholtz instability
Not to be confused with KelvinHelmholtz mechanism.
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Numerical simulation of a temporal KelvinHelmholtz instability
The KelvinHelmholtz instability (after Lord Kelvin and Hermann von Helmholtz) can occur
when there is velocity shear in a single continuous fluid, or where there is a velocity
difference across the interface between two fluids. An example is wind blowing over water:
The instability manifests in waves on the water surface. More generally, clouds, the ocean,
Saturn's bands, Jupiter's Red Spot, and the sun's corona show this instability.[1]
The theory predicts the onset of instability and transition to turbulent flow in fluids of
different densities moving at various speeds. Helmholtz studied the dynamics of two fluids
of different densities when a small disturbance, such as a wave, was introduced at the
boundary connecting the fluids.
In gravity, for a continuously varying distribution of density and velocity (with the lighter
layers uppermost, so that the fluid is RT-stable), the dynamics of the KH instability is
described by the TaylorGoldstein equation and its onset is given by a Richardson number,
Ri. Typically the layer is unstable for Ri<0.25. These effects are common in cloud layers. The
study of this instability is applicable in plasma physics, for example in inertial confinement
fusion and the plasmaberyllium interface.
See also
Notes
References
External links
See also
RayleighTaylor instability
RichtmyerMeshkov instability
Mushroom cloud
PlateauRayleigh instability
TaylorCouette flow
Fluid mechanics
Fluid dynamics
Notes
1. ^ Fox, Karen C. "NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Catches "Surfer" Waves on the
Sun" . NASA-The Sun-Earth Connection: Heliophysics. NASA.
References
Article describing discovery of K-H waves in deep ocean: Broad, William J. (April 19, 2010).
"In Deep Sea, Waves With a Familiar Curl" . New York Times. Retrieved April 2010.
External links
Hwang, K.-J.; Goldstein; Kuznetsova; Wang; Vias; Sibeck (2012). "The first in situ
observation of Kelvin-Helmholtz waves at high-latitude magnetopause during strongly
dawnward interplanetary magnetic field conditions". J. Geophys. Res. 117 (A08233).
Bibcode:2012JGRA..117.8233H . doi:10.1029/2011JA017256 .
Vortex formation in free jet - YouTube video showing Kelvin Helmholtz waves on the
edge of a free jet visualised in a scientific experiment.
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