Absolute instability of a liquid jet in a gas

Abstract

The effect of the ambient gas density on the onset of absolute instability in a viscous liquid jet is examined. The critical Weber number, above which the instability is convective and below which the instability is absolute, is determined as a function of Reynolds number and the density ratio of gas to liquid. It is shown that the gas density has the effect of raising the critical Weber number. It also raises the cutoff wavenumber below which disturbances are spatially amplified and above which they are damped.