1

Accepted for publication in J. Fluid Mech.

Viscous potential flow analysis of Kelvin-Helmholtz

instability in a channel
By T. F U N A D A1

AND

D. D. J O S E P H2

Department of Digital Engineering, Numazu College of Technology, Ooka 3600, Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan
Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
(Received ?? and in revised form ??)

We study the stability of stratied gas-liquid ow in a horizontal rectangular channel using viscous potential
ow. The analysis leads to an explicit dispersion relation in which the eects of surface tension and viscosity on
the normal stress are not neglected but the eect of shear stresses are neglected. Formulas for the growth rates,
wave speeds and neutral stability curve are given in general and applied to experiments in air-water ows. The
eects of surface tension are always important and actually determine the stability limits for the cases in which
the volume fraction of gas is not too small. The stability criterion for viscous potential ow is expressed by
a critical value of the relative velocity. The maximum critical value is when the viscosity ratio is equal to the
density ratio; surprisingly the neutral curve for this viscous uid is the same as the neutral curve for inviscid
uids. The maximum critical value of the velocity of all viscous uids is given by inviscid uids. For air at 20 C
and liquids with density = 1 g/cm3 the liquid viscosity for the critical conditions is 15 cp; the critical velocity
for liquids with viscosities larger than 15 cp are only slightly smaller but the critical velocity for liquids with
viscosities smaller than 15 cp, like water, can be much lower. The viscosity of the liquid has a strong aect on
the growth rate. The viscous potential ow theory ts the experimental data for air and water well when the
gas fraction is greater than about 70%.

1. Introduction
It is well known that the Navier-Stokes equations are satised by potential ow; the viscous term is identically
zero when the vorticity is zero but the viscous stresses are not zero (Joseph & Liao 1994). It is not possible to
satisfy the no-slip condition at a solid boundary or the continuity of the tangential component of velocity and
shear stress at a uid-uid boundary when the velocity is given by a potential. The viscous stresses enter into the
viscous potential ow analysis of free surface problems through the normal stress balance (2.9) at the interface.
Viscous potential ow analysis gives good approximations to fully viscous ows in cases where the shears from
the gas ow are negligible; the Rayleigh-Plesset bubble is a potential ow which satises the Navier-Stokes
equations and all the interface conditions. Joseph, Belanger & Beavers (1999) constructed a viscous potential
ow analysis of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability which can scarcely be distinguished from the exact fully viscous
analysis.
The success of viscous potential ow in the analysis of Rayleigh-Taylor instability has motivated the analysis
of Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) theory given here. It is well known that the instability that arises when surface
tension and viscosity are neglected is catastrophic; short waves with wave lengths = 2/k amplify without
control like ekt . The instability grows exponentially as the wavenumber k no matter how small time
t. This kind of catastrophic instability is called Hadamard instability (Joseph & Saut 1990). In the case of
inviscid uids this instability is regularized by surface tension which stabilizes the short waves; surface tension
is very important. The question is whether viscosity, without surface tension, would regularize the Hadamard
instability of a vortex sheet on an unbounded domain. Unlike surface tension, viscosity will not cause the small
waves to decay; they still grow but their growth is limited and the growth rate Re [(k)] does not go to innity
with k as in Hadamard instability. The positive growth rate is given by
Re [+ ] =

a 2l + l 2a
2 (l + a )

where [, , U ] = [density, viscosity, velocity].

(Ua Ul )

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

The present paper gives a detailed report of the viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a rectangular duct together with a comparison of theory and experiment in the case of air-water ow. As we have
already mentioned potential ow requires that we neglect the no-slip condition at solid surfaces. In the rectangular channel the top and bottom walls are perpendicular to gravity; the bottom wall is under the liquid and
parallel to the undisturbed uniform stream; the top wall contacts gas only. The side walls are totally inactive;
there is no motion perpendicular to the side walls unless it is created initially and since the two uids slip at the
walls all the conditions required in the analysis of three dimensions can be satised by ow in two dimensions
which is analyzed here.
The viscosity in viscous potential ow enters into the normal stress balance rather than tangential stress
balance. Air over liquid induces small viscous stresses that may be conned to boundary layer and may be less
and less important as the viscosity of the liquid increases. At a at, free surface z = 0 with velocity components
(u, w) corresponding to (x, z) the shear stress is given by



u w
+

z
x
and the normal stress is
2

w
.
z

The normal stress is an extensional rather than a shear stress and it is activated by waves on the liquid; the
waves are induced more by pressure than by shear. For this reason, we could argue that the neglect of shear
could be justied in wave motions in which the viscous resistance to wave motion is not negligible; this is the
situation which may be well approximated by viscous potential ow.

2. Formulation of the problem

A channel of rectangular cross section with height H and width W and of length L is set horizontally, in
which a gas layer is over a liquid layer (see Fig.1): the two-layer Newtonian incompressible uids are immiscible.
The undisturbed interface is taken at z = 0 with the z-axis of Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z). We denote velocity
by (u, w), pressure p, density , viscosity and acceleration due to gravity (0, g); the y component is ignored
herein.
In the undisturbed state, the gas (air) with a uniform ow (Ua , 0) is in 0 < z < ha , and the liquid with a
uniform ow (Ul , 0) is in hl < z < 0 (H = hl + ha ); the pressure has an equilibrium distribution due to the
gravity. We consider Kelvin-Helmholtz instability of small disturbances against the undisturbed state.
The prescription of a discontinuity in velocity across z = 0 is not compatible with the no-slip condition of
Navier-Stokes viscous uid mechanics. The discontinuous prescription of data in the study of Kelvin-Helmholtz
instability is a viscous potential ow solution of the Navier-Stokes in which no-slip conditions at walls and no
slip and continuity of shear stress across the gas liquid interface are neglected. Usually the analysis of KelvinHelmholtz instability is done using potential ow for an inviscid uid but this procedure leaves out certain
eects of viscosity which can be included with complete rigor. This kind of analysis using viscous potential ow
is carried out here. An exact study of, say air over water requires the inclusion of all of the eects of viscosity,
and even the prescription of a basic ow is much more complicated. Problems of superposed viscous uids have
been considered, for example, in the monograph on two-uid mechanics by Joseph & Renardy (1991) and more
recently in the paper and references therein of Charru & Hinch (2000).
2.1. Viscous potential ow analysis
We already noted that if the uids are allowed to slip at the walls, then the two-dimensional solution will satisfy
the three-dimensional equations and we may reduce the analysis to ow between parallel plates. We found
by computing that three-dimensional are more stable than two-dimensional disturbances. We now consider
two-dimensional disturbances, for which the velocity potential (x, z, t) gives (u, w) = .
The potential is subject to the equation of continuity:
2 2
u w
+
=0
+ 2 = 0;
x
z
x2
z

(2.1)

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

z
g
y

ha
Aira,a,Ua
x

-hl
Liquidl,l,Ul

h(x,t)

W
L
Figure 1. Kelvin Helmholtz instability due to a discontinuity of velocity of air above liquid in a rectangular channel.
The no-slip condition is not enforced in viscous potential ow so that the two dimensional solution satises the side-wall
boundary conditions.

thus the potentials for the respective uids are given by

2 a
2 a
+
= 0 in 0 < z < ha ,
x2
z 2

(2.2)

2 l
2 l
+
= 0 in hl < z < 0.
(2.3)
x2
z 2
Boundary conditions at the interface (at z = h, where h h(x, t) is the interface elevation) are given by
h
h
+ Ua
= wa ,
t
x
and the conditions on the walls are given by

h
h
+ Ul
= wl ,
t
x

(2.4a, b)

wa = 0 at z = ha ,

(2.5)

wl = 0 at z = hl .

(2.6)

The potential a that satises (2.2) and (2.5) for the air and the potential l that satises (2.3) and (2.6)
for the liquid are given, respectively, by
a = Aa cosh [k (z ha )] exp (t + ikx) + c.c.,

(2.7a)

l = Al cosh [k (z + hl )] exp (t + ikx) + c.c.,

(2.7b)

and the interface elevation may be given by

h = A0 exp (t + ikx) + c.c.,

(2.7c)

where Aa , Al and A0 denote the complex amplitude, and c.c. stands for the complex
conjugate of the preceding
expression; is the complex growth rate and k > 0 denotes the wavenumber; i = 1. From the kinematic
conditions (2.4a, b), we have the following equations for the complex amplitudes:
( + ikUa ) A0 = kAa sinh (kha ) ,

(2.8a)

( + ikUl ) A0 = kAl sinh (khl ) .

(2.8b)

The other boundary condition is the normal stress balance (with the normal viscous stress) at the interface:



wa
wl
2h
+ a gh pl + 2l
+ l gh = 2 ,
(2.9)
pa + 2a
z
z
x
in which denotes the surface tension. Noting that the pressure is solely subject to the Laplace equation derived

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

from the equation of motion for small disturbances, the pressure terms in (2.9) may be eliminated

 using the
equations of motion in which the viscous terms vanish identically when u = ; 2 u = 2 0. Thus
pa may be written, from the equation of motion without the viscous term, as



ua
ua
pa
+ Ua
,
(2.10a)
a
=
t
x
x
and with the aid of the equation of continuity, we have the expression of pa

2

wa
2 wa
2 pa
+ Ua
a
;
=
tz
xz
x2
the pressure pl may be written as

(2.10b)


2 wl
2 wl
2 pl
l
+ Ul
.
(2.11)
=
tz
xz
x2
Thus the normal stress balance is now written as

2

2


wa
wl
2 wa
3 wa
2 wl
3 wl
2h
4h
+ Ua
+ Ul
a
+ 2a 2 + l
2l 2 (l a ) g 2 = 4 , (2.12)
tz
xz
x z
tz
xz
x z
x
x
hence we have the equation of , using (2.7) and (2.8):




2
2
a ( + ikUa ) + 2a k 2 ( + ikUa ) coth (kha ) + l ( + ikUl ) + 2l k 2 ( + ikUl ) coth (khl )
+ (l a ) gk + k 3 = 0.

(2.13)

2.2. Dispersion relation

From (2.13) the dispersion relation is given as
A2 + 2B + C = 0,

(2.14)

where the coecients A, B and C are dened as

A = l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha ) ,
B = ik [l Ul coth (khl ) + a Ua coth (kha )] + k 2 [l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )] = BR + iBI ,


C = (l a ) gk k 2 l Ul2 coth (khl ) + a Ua2 coth (kha ) + k 3
+2ik 3 [l Ul coth (khl ) + a Ua coth (kha )] = CR + iCI .
The solution may be expressed as
B
=
A

C
B2

A2
A

R + iI =

BR + iBI
D

A
A

(2.15a)
(2.15b)

(2.15c)

(2.16)

where D is given by
D = DR + iDI = (BR + iBI )2 A (CR + iCI ) ,

(2.17a)

DR = l a (Ua Ul )2 k 2 coth (khl ) coth (kha ) + k 4 [l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )]2


[l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )] (l a ) gk + k 3 ,

(2.17b)

DI = 2k 3 (a l l a ) (Ua Ul ) coth (khl ) coth (kha ) .

(2.17c)

When a l = l a for which DI = 0, and if DR 0, we have

BR DR
BI
, I = .
R =
A
A
This is a typical case where the real and imaginary parts of can be expressed most clearly.

(2.18a, b)

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

If the top and bottom are far away hl , ha , then (2.14) gives rise to
=

ik (a Ua + l Ul ) + k 2 (a + l )
(a + l )
2

a l k 2 (Ua Ul )
(a + l )

k 4 (a + l )
(a l l a ) (Ua Ul )
(l a ) gk + k 3
+

+2ik 3
2
2
(a + l )
(a + l )
(a + l )

which is reduced, for a particular case that a l = l a , to

1/2

k 2 (a + l )
(l a ) gk + k 3
a l k 2 (Ua Ul )2
k 4 (a + l )2
R =

+
2
2
(a + l )
(a + l )
(a + l )
(a + l )
I =

1/2
,

(2.19a)

k (a Ua + l Ul )
.
(a + l )

(2.19b)

Here, it is easy to nd that the equation R = 0 gives a relation being irrespective of viscosity. In other words,
the relation holds even for inviscid uids; this is much suggestive for the problem to be considered herein.
2.3. Growth rates and wave speeds
In terms of = R + iI , (2.14) is also written, for the real and imaginary parts, as
 2

A R
I2 + 2 (BR R BI I ) + CR = 0,

I =

2BI R + CI
.
2 (AR + BR )

(2.20a, b)

Eliminating I from the above, we have a quartic equation for R :

4
3
2
+ a3 R
+ a2 R
+ a1 R + a0 = 0,
a4 R

(2.21)

where the coecients are given as

a4 = A3 ,

a3 = 4A2 BR ,

2
a2 = 5ABR
+ ABI2 + A2 CR ,

(2.22a, b, c)

1
2
a0 = ACI2 + BR BI CI + BR
CR .
(2.22d, e)
4
The quartic equation (2.21) can be solved analytically. Neutral states for which R = 0 are described in terms
of the solution to the equation a0 = 0. The peak value (the maximum growth rate) m and the corresponding
wavenumber km are obtained by solving (2.21). It is usually true, but unproven, that m = 2/km will be the
length of unstable waves observed in experiments.
The complex values of are frequently expressed in terms of a complex frequency with
3
+ 2BR BI2 + 2ABR CR ,
a1 = 2BR

R + iI = = i = iR + I .

(2.23)

Hence
I = R .

(2.24)

CR = R /k = I /k.

(2.25)

R = I ;
The wave speed for the mode with wavenumber k is

The set of wavenumbers for which unstable ows are stable is also of interest. The wavelengths corresponding
to these wavenumbers will not appear in the spectrum. Cut-o wavenumbers kC separate the unstable and
stable parts of the spectrum.
2.4. Neutral curves
Neutral curves dene values of the parameters for which R (k) = 0. These curves may be obtained by putting
a0 = 0

l 2a coth (khl ) coth2 (kha ) + a 2l coth2 (khl ) coth (kha )

2

[l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )]

kV 2 + (l a ) g + k 2 = 0,

(2.26)

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

where the relative velocity V is dened by V Ua Ul . This equation may be solved for V 2 where
V 2 (k) =

2

[l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )]
1
(l a ) g + k 2 .
2
2
2
2
l a coth (khl ) coth (kha ) + a l coth (khl ) coth (kha ) k

(2.27)

The lowest point on the neutral curve V 2 (k) is

Vc2 =

min

k0

V 2 (k) V 2 (kc )

(2.28)

where c = 2/kc is the wave length that makes V 2 minimum. The ow is unstable when
2

V 2 = (V ) > Vc2 .

(2.29)

This criterion is symmetric with respect to V and V , depending only on the absolute value of the dierence.
This feature stems from Galilean invariance; the ow seen by the observer moving with gas is the same as the
one seen by an observer moving with the liquid.
By recalling the results obtained by computing, it is interesting to note here that the three dimensional
disturbances in the sense of the viscous potential ow lead to the relative velocity V3D , which can be expressed
in terms of (2.27) as
2

(k U a k U l )
k2
= 2 V 2 (k),
2
kx
kx
only if we regard the 3D-wavenumber vector k = (kx , ky ) as

2

ky = 0, , , .
k = kx2 + ky2 ,
W
W
2

V3D

(2.30)

(2.31a, b)

2
is larger than V 2 (k) if ky = 0; the most dangerous three-dimensional disturbance
It is evident in (2.30) that V3D
is two-dimensional with ky = 0.

3. K-H Instability of Inviscid Fluid

For inviscid uids (a = l = 0), we have BR = 0 and CI = 0; thus a3 = a1 = a0 = 0 and (2.21) reduces to
4
2
+ a2 R
= 0,
a4 R

(3.1)

2
+ a2 = 0,
a4 R

(3.2)

thus we have
and
k [l Ul coth (khl ) + a Ua coth (kha )]
BI
=
.
(3.3)
A
l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )
It should be noted here that the neutral curve was given by the equation a0 = 0 in the viscous potential analysis
((2.26) and (2.27)), whereas the neutral curve in this K-H instability is given by the equation a2 = 0. It is also
noted that I is the same as (2.18b), though R may be dierent, in general, from (2.18a). But the equation
R = 0 in (3.2) is the same that R = 0 in (2.18a); for the case of a l = l a .
From (3.2) with a2 < 0, the growth rate R is expressed as

l a k 2 coth (khl ) coth (kha ) V 2 [l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )] [(l a ) gk + k 3 ]
R =
.
(3.4)
l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )
I =

At the neutral state R = 0 for which a2 = 0, we have


l a k coth (khl ) coth (kha ) 2 
V (l a ) g + k 2 = 0.
l coth (khl ) + a coth (kha )
Instability arises if



tanh (khl ) tanh (kha ) 1 
V >
+
(l a ) g + k 2 Vi2 (k).
l
a
k
2

(3.5)

(3.6)

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

In the stable case for which a2 > 0, the wave velocity CR is given by

BI2
BI
CR

.
k CR = I =
+
2
A
A
A

(3.7)

4. Dimensionless form of the dispersion equation

The dimensionless variables are designated with a roof and are listed below
k = kH,
a = ha ,
h
H
h
a,
l = l = 1 h
h
H
a
,
=
l
a
,

=
l

=
,
l gH 2
where

a = Ua ,
U
Q
U
l = l ,
U
Q

l
V = Ua U
H
,

=
Q
l
=
,
l HQ

(1 )gH
Q=

1/2
.

The dimensionless form of (2.14) is given by



l ) + coth(k h
a)
coth(kh
2
 



l ) + U
a)
l) +
l coth(k h
a coth(k ha ) + k 2 coth(k h
+ 2
ik U
coth(k h




l ) + U
a ) + 2ik 3 U
l) +
a)
2 coth(k h
2 coth(k h
l coth(k h
a coth(k h
U
k2 U
l
a


k
= 0.
+ k 1 +
(1 )
= 0 is written in dimensionless variables as
The expression (2.27) for the neutral curve
R (k)

2


a) +
l)
tanh(k h
tanh(k h
2
1

k
2
V =
.
1+
a ) + (
l ) k
(1 )
tanh(k h
2 /) tanh(k h

(4.1)

(4.2)

Notice that the growth rate parameter = l /(l HQ), which depends linearly on the kinematic viscosity
l = l /l of the liquid does not appear in (4.2). Note also that the value of (1 ) is close to unity, since
= 0.0012 for air-water.
The neutral curves for an inviscid uid (3.5) can be obtained by putting
= or l /l = a /a . This gives
from (4.2) the following expression



1
2

k
2
a ) + tanh(k h
l)
(4.3)
V = tanh(k h
1+
1
k
which is the dimensionless form of (3.6). Though this reduction is immediate it is surprising.
Evaluating (4.2) for
= 0, we get


1
k2
2

V = tanh(k ha )
.
1+
1
k

(4.4)

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

Evaluating (4.2) for

= we get
l) 1
V = tanh(kh
k
2


k2
.
1+
1

(4.5)

= , for inviscid uids. Viscosity in viscous potential ow is

It is easy to verify that V 2 is maximum at
destabilizing; however, large viscosities are less destabilizing than small viscosities.
Since = 0.0012, it is very small, the variation in the stability is large as
varies between and , and is
very small as
varies between and zero. The value
= 0.018 > = 0.0012, and is in the interval in which
V 2 is rapidly varying (see gure 4).
In the literature on gas liquid ows a long wave approximation is often made to obtain stability limits. For
kh
and (4.2) reduces to
long waves k 0 and tanh(kh)


2
a +
l )2

k
(
h

h
V 2 =
.
(4.6)
1+
l
a + (
1
2 /)h
h
The eect of surface tension disappears in this limit but the eects of viscosity are important. To get the long
wave limit in the inviscid case put
= .
The regularization of short waves by surface tension is an important physical eect. For short waves, k ,
1 and
tanh(kh)


2
2
1
(

+
1)

k
2
V =
.
(4.7)
1+
1+
2 / k
(1 )
To get the short wave limit in the inviscid case put
= .

The eects of surface tension may be computed from (4.6) and (4.7).
The stability limit for long waves k 0
is independent of . For short waves (4.6) has a minimum at k = (1 )/
with a value there given by


2(
+ 1)2
V 2 =
.
(4.8)
1+
2 / 1
Equation (4.8) shows that short waves are stabilized by increasing . For small instability is for long waves.

5. The eect of liquid viscosity and surface tension

on growth rates and neutral curves
For air and water at 20 C
3

a = 0.0012 g/cm ,
a = 0.00018 poise,

l = 1 g/cm ,
l = 0.01 poise,

= a /l = 0.0012,

= a /l = 0.018.

The surface tension of air and pure water is = 72.8 dynes/cm. Usually the water is slightly contaminated and
= 60 dynes/cm is more probable for the water-air tension in experiments. For all kinds of organic liquids a
number like = 30 dynes/cm is close to the mark.
Neutral curves for
= 0.018 (air/water) and
= = 0.0012 (inviscid ow) and
= 3.6106 (l = 50 poise)
with = 60 dynes/cm are picked up here; the former two are shown in gures 2 and 3. The liquid viscosities
l = l a /a corresponding to these three cases are l = 0.01 poise, 0.15 poise and 50 poise. The neutral
curves for
are nearly identical. The neutral curves for
= 0.018 (air/water) are to be compared with
experiments. We have identied the minimum values of (4.2) over k 0 in the air/water case, and in tables 1, 2
and 3 the critical velocity Vc = V (kc ), the critical wave number kc (and wave length c = 2/kc ) and associated
wave speeds CRc = CR (kc ) are listed. In the tables, Vs and CRs denote the values taken at k = 103 cm1 ,
which may be representative of values in the limit of long wave, k 0. The variation of the critical velocity
with the viscosity ratio
= a /l for a representative gas fraction = 0.5 is shown in gure 4. The vertical line

= identies the stability limit for inviscid uids. Points to the left of this line have high liquid viscosities
l > 0.15 poise, and for points to the right, l < 0.15 poise.

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

2000

V(cm/s)

1500

0.99
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6

1000

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2

500

0.1
=0.01

0
0.01

0.1

k(1/cm)

10

100

1000

a is the gas fraction. As in the

Figure 2. Neutral curves for air and water (
= 0.018, see table 1 and gure 4); = h
usual manner, the disturbances will grow above the neutral, but decay below the neutral. For larger than about 0.2,
there arises the critical velocity Vc below which all the disturbances will decay.

Table 1. Typical values of the neutral curves in gure 2 for air-water with a =0.0012 g/cm3 , a =0.00018 poise,
l =1.0 g/cm3 , l =0.01 poise, g =980.0 cm/sec2 , =60.0 dynes/cm, H =2.54 cm. (This table was based upon the
results of computation that the neutral curves with =0.1 and 0.2 in gure 2 increase monotonically from the values
Vs cm/sec at k =103 cm1 ; the curve with =0.3 in gure 2 increases from the value Vs cm/sec at k =103 cm1 ,
takes a maximum V =651.3 cm/sec at k =0.692 cm1 , and then takes a minimum Vc =572.5 cm/sec (the critical) at
kc =3.893 cm1 ; for the other values of , the corresponding curves give the critical Vc at kc .)
a
h

Rs cm/sec kc cm1 c cm Vc cm/sec C

Rc cm/sec
Vs cm/sec C

0.01
0.1
0.2
0.3

76.04
285.6
478.5
643.4

198.6
43.22
20.82
12.50

0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.99

788.8
919.4
1039
1149
1252
1348
1430

8.150
5.481
3.676
2.373
1.389
0.619
0.056

0.649

9.676

72.92

155.9

0.692
3.893
4.020
4.052
4.052
4.052
4.117
4.354
4.150

9.076
1.614
1.563
1.551
1.551
1.551
1.526
1.443
1.514

651.3
572.5
573.9
574.1
574.1
574.3
575.7
585.3
628.0

9.432
5.510
5.484
5.481
5.479
5.459
5.319
4.415
0.585

In all cases the critical velocity is inuenced by surface tension; the critical velocity is given by long waves
only when is small (small air gaps). For larger values of (say > 0.2), the most dangerous neutrally unstable
wave is identied by a sharp minimum determined by surface tension, which is identied in table 1 (c.f. equation
(4.8)).

10

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

2000

1500

0.99

V(cm/s)

0.9

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4

1000

0.3
0.2

500

0.1
=0.01

0
0.01

0.1

1.0

10

100

1000

k(1/cm)
a . This neutral curve arose
Figure 3. Neutral curves for inviscid uids (
= = 0.0012) for dierent gas fractions = h
for the special case
= = 0.0012 = a /l with a = 0.00018 poise; hence l = 0.15 poise. Surprisingly it is identical
to the case a = l = 0 (see table 2 and gure 4). The neutral curves for viscous uids with l > 15 cp are essentially
the same as these (c.f. table 2 and 3).

Table 2. Typical values of the neutral curves in gure 3 for air-water (as inviscid uids) with a =0.0012 g/cm3 ,
a =0.0 poise, l =1.0 g/cm3 , l =0.0 poise, g =980.0 cm/sec2 , =60.0 dynes/cm, H =2.54 cm.
a
h
0.01
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.99

Rs cm/sec kc cm1 c cm Vc cm/sec C

Rc cm/sec
Vs cm/sec C
152.2
457.6
645.3
789.5
911.2
1018
1115
1205
1288
1366
1432

16.17
4.890
3.082
2.204
1.637
1.221
0.892
0.619
0.386
0.182
0.017

0.629

9.990

150.6

9.725

2.990
3.924
4.020
4.052
4.052
4.052
4.052
4.052
4.052

2.101
1.601
1.563
1.551
1.551
1.551
1.551
1.551
1.551

619.8
634.4
635.7
635.9
635.9
635.9
635.9
635.8
635.6

0.818
0.764
0.762
0.762
0.762
0.759
0.738
0.590
0.078

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

11

1000

V(cm/sec)

800

600

400

200
Water
0
1e-6

1e-5

0.0001

0.0012

0.001

0.018

0.01

0.1

10

Figure 4. Critical velocity V vs.

for = 0.5. The critical velocity is the minimum value on the neutral curve. The
vertical line is
= = 0.0012 and the horizontal line at V = 635.9 cm/sec is the critical value for inviscid uids. The
vertical dashed line at
= 0.018 is for air and water. Typical values for a high viscosity liquid are given in table 3 below.

Table 3. Typical values of the neutral curves for air-high viscosity liquid with a =0.0012 g/cm3 , a =0.00018 poise,
l =1.0 g/cm3 , l =50.0 poise, g =980.0 cm/sec2 , =60.0 dynes/cm, H =2.54 cm; thus
= 3.6106 . This corresponds

to a high viscosity case in gure 4. (The curves with ha = 0.5 through 0.8 take almost the same minimum value at k = kc ,
Rs =0.0011-0.0003 cm/sec.) (see table 4 for
though the values at k = 103 cm1 change as Vs = 1018-1287 cm/sec and C
the maximum growth rate.)
a
h
0.01
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.99

Rs cm/sec kc cm1 c cm Vc cm/sec C

Rc cm/sec
Vs cm/sec C
144.0
455.2
643.7
788.4
910.4
1018
1115
1204
1287
1366
1432

0.1104
0.0100
0.0045
0.0026
0.0017
0.0011
0.0007
0.0005
0.0003
0.0001
1.1105

2.990
3.924
4.020
4.052
4.052
4.052
4.052
4.052
4.052

2.101
1.601
1.563
1.551
1.551
1.551
1.551
1.551
1.551

619.4
634.1
635.4
635.5
635.5
635.5
635.5
635.5
635.5

0.0012
0.0011
0.0011
0.0011
0.0011
0.0011
0.0011
0.0009
0.0001

12

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

1000
800

R(1/s)

600
400
200

=0.2

0.5

0
0.01

0.8
0.1

10

k(1/cm)

100

1000

Figure 5. The real part of growth rate R sec1 vs. k cm1 for
= 0.018 (water, l = 1 cp), V = 1500 cm/sec. The
graphs are top to bottom = 0.2, 0.5, 0.8. Along the line of V =1500 cm/sec in gure 2, the curves of R sec1 are
drawn here for respective values of . Instability may arise for all the disturbances of wavenumbers below the cut-o
wavenumber kC . The maximum growth rate Rm and the corresponding wavenumber km = 2/m for V = 1500 and
900 cm/sec are listed with wave velocity CRm in table 4 below.

The growth rates depend strongly on the liquid viscosity unlike the neutral curves. The most dangerous linear
wave is the one whose growth rate R is maximum at k = km ,
Rm = R (km ) =

max

k0

R (k)

(5.1)

with an associated wavelength m = 2/km and wave speed CRm = CR (km ). Typical growth rate curves are
shown in gure 5. Maximum growth rate parameters for
= 0.018 (gure 5),
= = 0.0012, l = 15 cp and

= 3.6 106 (l = 50 p) are listed for V = 1500 and 900 cm/sec in table 4.

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

Table 4. Wave number, wave length and wave speed for the maximum growth rate (5.1).

0.018

0.0012

3.6106

a
V cm/sec h

km cm1

m cm

Rm cm/sec
Rm sec1 C

1500

0.01
0.1-0.9
0.99

29.90
29.66
32.13

0.2101
0.2118
0.1955

1448
872.5
706.2

3.044
2.049
1.454

900

0.01
0.1
0.2
0.3-0.8
0.9
0.99

15.40
10.00
10.24
10.24
10.33
11.36

0.408
0.628
0.613
0.613
0.609
0.553

615.3
167.7
164.2
164.2
163.3
84.66

3.046
1.183
1.175
1.174
1.164
0.367

1500

0.01
0.1-0.9
0.99

26.95
27.17
30.14

0.233
0.231
0.209

1340
768
584.7

3.022
1.798
1.159

900

0.01
0.1
0.2-0.7
0.8
0.9
0.99

14.45
9.456
9.685
9.763
9.841
10.66

0.435
0.665
0.649
0.644
0.638
0.589

585.2
155.1
151.0
151.0
149.9
69.59

3.064
1.097
1.079
1.079
1.064
0.285

1500

0.01
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4-0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
0.99

1.821
0.916
0.845
3.087
4.4-4.5
4.679
5.360
7.743
20.54

3.450
6.861
7.432
2.035
1.42-1.40
1.343
1.172
0.812
0.306

295.1
60.04
34.43
21.96
21.89
21.85
21.61
20.21
6.801

24.55
4.495
2.049
0.086
0.045-0.04
0.040
0.032
0.017
0.003

900

0.01
1.323
4.750
0.1
0.676
9.297
0.2
0.581
10.82
0.3
0.984
6.385
0.4-0.6 4.02-4.08 1.56-1.51
0.7
4.150
1.514
0.8
4.460
1.409
0.9
5.534
1.135
0.99
7.994
0.786

145.9
24.80
10.48
4.294
4.86
4.840
4.735
4.100
0.741

19.64
3.017
1.199
0.135
0.010
0.009
0.008
0.005
0.001

13

14

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

6. Comparison of theory and experiments in rectangular ducts

Kordyban & Ranov (1970) and Wallis & Dobson
(1973) are the only authors to report the results of
experiments in rectangular ducts. Many other experiments have been carried out in round pipes; the results of these experiments are not perfectly matched
to the analysis done here or elsewhere, and will be
discussed later.
All experimenters are motivated to understand the
transition from stratied ow with a at smooth interface to slug ow. They note that in many cases the
rst transition, which is studied here, is from smooth
stratied ow to small amplitude sinusoidal waves
called capillary waves by Wallis & Dobson (1973).
The data given by these authors is framed as a transition to slug ow, though the criteria given are for
the loss of stability of smooth stratied ow. The theoretical predictions are for the loss of stability, which
may or may not be to slug ow.
Finally we call the readers attention to the fact
that all the linear theories that neglect viscosity overpredict the observed stability limit. Wallis & Dobson
(1973) note that ...as a result of the present experiments it is our view that the various small wave theories are all inappropriate for describing slugging.
Slugging is the result of the rapid development of a
large wave which rides over the underlying liquid and
can eventually ll the channel to form a slug... Wallis
& Dobson (1973) also note that It was found possible to produce slugs at air uxes less than those
predicted by their empirical formula, j < 0.53/2 .
All this suggests that we may be looking at something
akin to subcritical bifurcation with multiple solutions
and hysteresis.
Turning next to linearized theory we note that
Wallis & Dobson (1973) do an inviscid analysis stating that ...if waves are long (khL  1, khG  1)
and surface tension can be neglected, the predicted
instability condition is



hG
hL
(vG vL )2 > (L G ) g
+
. (6.1)
G
L
If G  L and vL  vG they may be simplied
further to give
2
> g(L G )hG
G vG

(6.2)

which is the same as

jG
> 3/2

... Here = hG /H and

vG G

=
jG
> 3/2 .
gH(L G )

(6.3)

Their criterion (6.1) is identical to ours (4.6) for the

long wave inviscid case
= and k 0. They compare their criterion (6.3) with transition observations
that they call slugging and note that empirically
the stability limit is well described by

> 0.53/2 ,
jG

rather than (6.3).

= 3/2
In gures 6 we plotted j vs. giving jG
3/2
and 0.5 ; we give the results from our viscous potential ow theory for the inviscid case in table 2 and
the air water case in table 1 and we show the experimental results presented by Wallis & Dobson (1973)
and Kordyban & Ranov (1970). Our theory ts the
data better than Wallis & Dobson (1973) j = 3/2 ;
it still overpredicts the data for small but ts the
large data quite well; we have good agreement when
the water layer is small.
The predicted wave length and wave speed in table 1 can be compared with experiments in principle, but in practice this comparison is obscured by
the focus on the formation of slugs. For example,
Wallis & Dobson (1973) remarks that at a certain
minimum air velocity, ripples appeared at the air entry end, and slowly spread down the channel. These
waves were about 2-in. (0.05 m) long and were made
up of long wave crests, with three or four capillary
waves riding on the troughs. The long waves traveled faster than the capillary waves. The speed of
these long waves were reported by Wallis & Dobson
(1973) to be less than 0.3 m/sec in all cases. Theoretical results from table 1 show that the wave length
c increases with the water depth (as in the experiment) and the wave speed varies from 0.1 m/sec to
0.04 m/sec. The predicted spacing of the waves on average is about 1.5 cm/sec. The predicted wave length
and wave speed from viscous potential ow are apparently in good agreement with the waves Wallis &
Dobson (1973) call capillary waves.
Observations similar to those of Wallis & Dobson
(1973) just cited were made by Andritsos, Williams
& Hanratty (1989) who note that for high viscosity
liquid (80 cp) a region of regular 2D waves barely exists. The rst disturbances observed with increasing
gas velocity are small-amplitude, small-wavelength,
rather regular 2D waves. With a slight increase in
gas velocity, these give way to a few large-amplitude
waves with steep fronts and smooth troughs, and with
spacing that can vary from a few centimeters to a meter.

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

0 .5
0 .4
0 .3

j*=

Va
gH(w-a)

0 .2

0.1
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04

j*=3/2

Wallis&Dobson(1973)
j*vs.1-h/H
f 1 .1
f 1 .2
f 1 .3
f 1 .4
f 1 .5
f 1 .6
x f 1 .7
+ f 1 .9

0.03

Lin&Hanratty(1986)
j*vs.1-h/D

0.02

0.0254mL/D=600
0.0953mL/D=260

Kordyban&
Ranov(1970)

x
j*=0.53/2

0.01
0 .1

15

0 .2

0 .3

0 .4

0 .5

0 .6 0 .7 0 .8 0 .9 1

Figure 6. j vs. is for marginal stability of air and water in a frame in which the water velocity is zero. The heavy
line through 2 = air-water, our result with = 60 dynes/cm from table 1;
= inviscid uid from table 2. j = 3/2 is
the long wave criterion for an inviscid uid put forward by Wallis & Dobson (1973). j = 0.53/2 was proposed by them
as best t to the experiments f 1.1 through f 1.9 described in their paper. The shaded region is from experiments by
Kordyban & Ranov (1970). Comparison of experimental data in rectangular conduits j vs.1 h/H = and in round
pipes j vs.1 h/D = (Lin & Hanratty 1986, gure 4).

7. Critical viscosity and density ratios

The most interesting aspect of our potential ow
analysis is the surprising importance of the viscosity
ratio
= a /l and density ratio = a /l ; when

= the equation (4.2) for marginal stability is identical to the equation for the neutral stability of an inviscid uid even though
= in no way implies that
the uids are inviscid. Moreover, the critical velocity
is a maximum at
= ; hence the critical velocity
is smaller for all viscous uids such that
= and
is smaller than the critical velocity for inviscid uids.
All this may be understood by inspection of gure 4,
which shows that
= is a distinguished value that
can be said to divide high viscosity liquids with
<
from low viscosity liquids. As a practical matter the
stability limit of high viscosity liquids can hardly be
distinguished from each other while the critical velocity decreases sharply for low viscosity uids. This
result may be framed in terms of the kinematic viscosity = / with high viscosities l > a . The
condition a = l can be written as
l = a

l
.
a

(7.1)

For air and water

l = 0.15 poise.

(7.2)

Hence l > 0.15 poise is a high viscosity liquid and

l < 0.15 poise is a low viscosity liquid provided that
l 1 g/cm3 .
Other authors have noted strange relations between viscous and inviscid uids. Barnea & Taitel
(1993) note that the neutral stability lines obtained
from the viscous Kelvin-Helmholtz analysis and the
inviscid analysis are quite dierent for the case of low
liquid viscosities, whereas they are quite similar for
high viscosity, contrary to what one would expect.
Their analysis starts from a two-uid model and it
leads to dierent dispersion relations; they do not obtain the critical condition
= . Earlier, Andritsos et
al (1989) noted a surprising result that the inviscid
theory becomes more accurate as the liquid viscosity
increases.
Andritsos & Hanratty (1987) have presented ow
regime maps for pipe ows in 2.52 cm and 9.53 cm
pipe for uids of dierent viscosity ranging from 1 cp
to 80 cp. These gures present ow boundaries; the
boundaries of interest to us are those that separate

16

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

2.52cm , 1cP
2.52cm ,16cP
2.52cm ,70cP
9.53cm ,1cP
9.53cm ,12cP
9.53cm ,80cP

0.09
0.07
0.05

U ls (m /s )

0.03

0.01
0.008
0.006
0.004
0.002

0.0009
0.0007
0.0005
0.0003

0.0001

U gs (m /s )

9 11

15 19 25

Figure 7. (After Andritsos & Hanratty 1987.) These lines represent the borders between smooth stratied ow and
disturbed ow observed in experiment. The water-air data is well below the cluster of high viscosity data that is bunched
together.

smooth ow from disturbed ow. Liquid holdups

(essentially ) are not specied in these experiments.
We extracted the smooth ow boundaries from gures in Andritsos & Hanratty (1987) and collected
them in our gure 7. It appears from this gure that
the boundaries of smooth ow for all the liquids with
l > 15 cp are close together, but the boundary for
water with l = 1 cp is much lower. The velocities
shown in these gures are supercial velocities; the
average velocities which could be compared with critical velocities in tables 1, 2 and 3 are larger than the
supercial velocities and are signicantly larger than
those in the tables.
Even earlier Francis (1951) observed that even
though the inviscid prediction of the KH instability overestimates the onset for air over water, this
prediction is in good agreement with experiments in
rectangular ducts when air is above water.

8. Further comparisons with previous

results
As a practical matter interest in the pipelining
of gas-liquid ow is in round pipes. All experiments
other than those of Kordyban & Ranov (1970) and
Wallis & Dobson (1973) reviewed in section 6 have

been done in round pipes. To our knowledge there

is no other theoretical study in which the stability
of stratied ow in a round pipe is studied without approximations. Theoretical studies of stability of
stratied ow have been presented by Wallis (1969);
Wu et al. (1987), Barnea (1991), Crowley, Wallis
& Barry (1992), Kordyban & Ranov (1970), Wallis
& Dobson (1973), Taitel & Dukler (1976), Mishima
& Ishii (1980), Lin & Hanratty (1986), Andritsos &
Hanratty (1987), Andritsos et al. (1989), Barnea &
Taitel (1993). Viscosity is neglected by Kordyban &
Ranov (1970), Wallis & Dobson (1973), Taitel & Dukler (1976) and Mishima & Ishii (1980). Surface tension is neglected by Wallis (1969), Kordyban & Ranov (1970), Wallis & Dobson (1973), Taitel & Dukler
(1976), Mishima & Ishii (1980) and Lin & Hanratty
(1986). Wallis (1969), Lin & Hanratty (1986), Wu
et al. (1987), Barnea (1991), Crowley et al. (1992)
and Barnea & Taitel (1993) use one or another of the
forms of two uids equations. In these equations averaged variables are introduced, the actual geometry
is represented only so far as its area and round, elliptical or rectangular pipes with equal areas are equivalent. The eects of viscosity in these averaged models are introduced through empirical wall and interfacial fraction correlations. All these authors neglect

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

the normal component of viscous stress (extensional
stresses are neglected). The approach of Andritsos &
Hanratty (1987), Andritsos et al. (1989) is dierent;
all the main physical eects are represented in analysis of the plane ow which is later applied to ow in
round pipes. The disturbance equations for the liquid are solved exactly except that the shear of basic
liquid ow is neglected using a plug ow assumption.
The eects of the gas on the liquid are represented
through empirical correlations and further approximations are required for round pipes.
The viscous analysis of Andritsos & Hanratty
(1987) for stability of stratied ow indicates that
the critical velocity increases with increasing viscosity unlike the present analysis which predicts no such
increase when l > a . The discrepancy may be due
to the approximations made by Andritsos & Hanratty
(1987).
Experiments on the stability of stratied ow have
been reported by Kordyban & Ranov (1970), Wallis & Dobson (1973), Taitel & Dukler (1976), Lin &
Hanratty (1986), Crowley et al. (1992) and Andritsos & Hanratty (1987). The experiments of Lin &
Hanratty (1986) and Andritsos & Hanratty (1987)
do not have data giving the height of the liquid and
gas layers. Kordyban & Ranov (1970) and Wallis &
Dobson (1973) did experiments in rectangular ducts,
the geometry analyzed in this paper, the other experiments were done in round pipes. Authors Lin &
Hanratty (1986), Crowley et al. (1992) and Andritsos & Hanratty (1987) are the only experimenters to
report results for uids with dierent viscosities.
There is diculty in comparing the results of experiments in round pipes and rectangular channels.
The common practice for round pipes is to express
results in terms of h/D where D is the pipe diameter and h is the height above the bottom of the pipe;
h/H is the liquid fraction in rectangular pipes and
= 1 h/H is the gas fraction, but h/D is not the
liquid fraction in round pipes and 1 h/D is not the
gas fraction in round pipes. Lin & Hanratty (1986)
presented experimental results for thin liquid lms
in round pipes giving (their gure 4) h/Dvs.j; we
converted their results to j vs.1 h/D and compared them in gure 6 with the results for rectangular
pipes. The experimental results for round pipes are
much lower than those for rectangular pipes. All this
points to the necessity of taking care when comparing results between round and rectangular pipes and
interpreting results of analysis for one experiment to
the other.
In general we do not expect viscous potential ow
to work well in two-liquid problems; we get good re-

17

sults only when one of the uids is a gas so that

retarding eects of the second liquid can be neglected. However, the case of Holmboe waves studied
by Pouliquen, Chomaz & Huerre (1994) may have a
bearing on the two-liquid case. These waves appear
only near our critical condition of equal kinematic
viscosity. They account for viscosity by replacing the
vortex sheet with layers of constant vorticity across
which no slip conditions and the continuity of shear
stress is enforced for the basic ow but the disturbance is inviscid. Of course, they could not entertain
the notion that an inviscid analysis is just what would
emerge from the condition of equal kinematic viscosity for viscous potential ow.

9. Nonlinear eects
None of the theories agree with experiments. Attempts to represent the eects of viscosity are only
partial, as in our theory of viscous potential ow,
or they require empirical data on wall and interfacial friction, which are not known exactly and may
be adjusted to t the data. Some choices for empirical inputs underpredict and others overpredict the
experimental data.
It is widely acknowledged that nonlinear eects at
play in the transition from stratied to slug ow are
not well understood. The well-known criterion of Taitel & Dukler (1976), based on a heuristic adjustment
of the linear inviscid long wave theory for nonlinear
eects, is possibly the most accurate predictor of experiments. Their criterion replaces j = 3/2 with
j = 5/2 . We can obtain the same heuristic adjustment for nonlinear eects on viscous potential ow by
multiplying the critical value of velocity in table 1 by
. Plots of j = 3/2 , j = 5/2 and the heuristic adjustment of viscous potential ow, together with the
experimental values of Wallis & Dobson (1973) and
Kordyban & Ranov (1970) are shown in gure 8. The
good agreement in evidence there lacks a convincing
foundation.

10. Conclusion
We studied Kelvin-Helmholtz stability of superposed uniform streams in rectangular ducts using viscous potential ow. Viscous potential ows satisfy the
Navier-Stokes equations. Because the no-slip condition can not be satised the eects of shear stresses
are neglected, but the eects of extensional stresses
at the interface on the normal stresses are fully represented. The solution presented is complete and mathematically rigorous. The eects of shear stresses are
neglected at the outset; after that no empirical inputs

18

T. Funada and D. D. Joseph

j*=5/2
[TD]

0 .5
0 .4 5
0 .4
0 .3 5
0 .3
0 .2 5
0 .2

0 .1 5

j*=3/2
[WD]Theory

0 .1

j*

xx

0 .0 5

j*=0.53/2
[WD]Bestfit

X
X

VPF:Table1with
criticalvalues
reducedbyfactor
[TD]

x
+
X
0 .1

0 .2

0 .3

0 .4

0 .5

0 .6 0 .7 0 .8 0 .9 1

Figure 8. Nonlinear eects. The Taitel-Dukler 1976 correction (multiply by ).

are introduced. The main result of the analysis is the

emergence of a critical value of velocity, discussed in
the paper abstract and in section 7. The main consequence of this result is that for air-liquid systems
the critical values of velocity for liquids with viscosities greater than 15 cp are essentially independent of
viscosity and the same as for an inviscid uid, but
for liquids with viscosities less than 15 cp the stability limits are much lower. The criterion for stability
of stratied ow given by viscous potential ow is
in good agreement with experiments when the liquid
layer is thin, but it overpredicts the data when the
liquid layer is thick. Though viscous potential ow
neglects the eects of shear the qualitative prediction
of the peculiar eects of liquid viscosity has been ob-

tained by other authors using other methods of analysis in which shear is not neglected.
A rather accurate predictor of experimental results
is given by applying the nonlinear correction factor to
account for the eect of nite amplitude wave on the
results of viscous potential ow.

11. Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Engineering Research Program of the Oce of Basic Energy Sciences at the DOE, by the NSF/CTS-0076648, by
an ARO grant DA/DAAH04 and by INTEVEP S.A.
A longer version of this paper can be found at
http://www.aem.umn.edu/people/faculty/joseph/.

Viscous potential ow analysis of KH instability in a channel

19

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