Reduced-dimension model for the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a Hele-Shaw cell
Name
1103712556-MIT.pdf
Size
7.66 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
05a9f13b561f62fc9dc4aa8f3c079cfe
Author(s)
Alqatari, Samar(Samar Ali A.)
Advisor(s)
Anette Hosoi.
Date Issued
2019
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In this thesis we present a reduced-dimension model for the density-driven hydrodynamic Rayleigh-Taylor instability. We motivate the project with experimental findings of a little-understood stabilizing effect of geometry and deviations of measured instability wavelength from theoretical predictions. We present novel methods of data analysis for the experimental data. We then present a reduced-dimension model for the governing equations of the system, Stoke's equations and Fick's law, using polynomial trial functions. We discuss the results and conduct a linear stability analysis of the reduced system. We compare the model to a finite element simulation of the full governing equations using COMSOL, and propose an optimization framework for the basis functions of the reduced model. The reduced model helps in developing physical intuition for the behavior of the instability in this confined geometry, and understanding the effects of certain parameters that are difficult to study experimentally or by simulating the full equations.
Description
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computation for Design and Optimization Program, 2019
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 93-94).
Subjects
Computation for Design and Optimization Program.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Computation for Design and Optimization Program
Terms of Use
MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
Persistent DSpace Link
