Abstract
We consider the convective instability of the BEK family of rotating boundary-layer flows for shear-thinning power-law fluids. The Bödewadt, Ekman and von Kármán flows are particular cases within this family. A linear stability analysis is conducted using a Chebyshev polynomial method in order to investigate the effect of shear-thinning fluids on the convective type I (inviscid crossflow) and type II (viscous streamline curvature) modes of instability. The results reveal that an increase in shear-thinning has a universal stabilising effect across the entire BEK family. Our results are presented in terms of neutral curves, growth rates and an analysis of the energy balance. The newly-derived governing equations for both the steady mean flow and unsteady perturbation equations are given in full.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 63-72 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics |
| Volume | 236 |
| Early online date | 26 Aug 2016 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Bödewadt flow
- Convective instability
- Ekman layer
- Flow control
- Power-law fluid
- Von Kármán flow
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemical Engineering(all)
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Applied Mathematics