Stability of buoyant-Couette flow in a vertical porous slot

Abstract

The stability of two-dimensional buoyancy-driven convection in a vertical porous slot, wherein a plane Couette flow is additionally present, is studied. This complex fluid flow scenario is examined under the influence of Robin-type boundary conditions, which are applied to perturbations in both velocity and temperature. The inclusion of a time-derivative velocity term within the Darcy momentum equation notably introduces intricacies to the study. The stability of the basic natural convection flow is primarily governed by several key parameters namely, the P\'eclet number, the Prandtl-Darcy number, the Biot number and a non-negative parameter that dictates the nature of the vertical boundaries. Through numerical analysis, the stability eigenvalue problem is solved for a variety of combinations of boundary conditions. The outcomes of this analysis reveal the critical threshold values that signify the onset of instability. Furthermore, a detailed examination of the stability of the system has provided insights into both its commonalities and distinctions under different conditions. It is observed that, except for the scenario featuring impermeable-isothermal boundaries, the underlying base flow exhibits instability when subjected to various other configurations of perturbed velocity and temperature boundary conditions. This underscores the notion that the presence of Couette flow alone does not suffice to induce instability within the system. The plots depicting neutral stability curves show either bi-modal or uni-modal characteristics, contingent upon specific parameter values that influence the onset of instability.