Stability of two-layer fluid flows with evaporation at the interface

Abstract

The problem of stability of two-layer (fluid-gas) flows with account of evaporation at the thermocapillary interface is studied under the condition of a fixed gas flow rate. In the upper gas-vapor layer, the Dufour effect is taken into account. A novel exact solution of the Navier–Stokes equations in the Boussinesq approximation is constructed. The effects of longitudinal temperature gradients, gravity, thicknesses of the gas and fluid layers, and the gas flow rate on the flow structure, the onset of recirculated flows near the interface, the evaporation rate, and the properties of characteristic disturbances are investigated.