Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Spatially Developing Shear Flows: Instability

In course

ME-466: Instability

This course focuses on the physical mechanisms at the origin of the transition of a flow from laminar to turbulent using the hydrodynamic instability theory. ...

Description

This lecture covers the spatial development of shear flows, focusing on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and various types of flow instabilities such as vortex shedding, flow separation, and Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The instructor discusses the characteristics of flat plate boundary layers, mixing layers, cylinder wakes, and plane channel flows, emphasizing the instability phenomena present in these flow configurations. The lecture also delves into the equations governing shear flows, including the streamfunction formulation and velocity field representation. Kinematic boundary conditions related to impermeability and fluid particle behavior at interfaces are explored in detail.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructor

François Gallaire

Né le 26 février 1975, François Gallaire obtient, en 1998, le diplôme dingénieur de lEcole Polytechnique à Paris et, en 1999, un master en « Physique des liquides » à lUniversité Pierre et Marie Curie, toujours à Paris. Il rejoint ensuite le Laboratoire dhydrodynamique (LadHyX) à lEcole polytechnique où il soutient, en 2003, une thèse sur le thème des instabilités des jets tournants et sur le contrôle de léclatement tourbillonnaire sous la direction de Jean-Marrc Chomaz. En 2003, il est nommé chargé de recherche au CNRS au Laboratoire J.A. Dieudonné de lUniversité de Nice Sophia-Antipolis.En 2009, il rejoint l'EPFL pour y fonder le laboratoire des mécanique des fluides et instabilités (LFMI). Ses recherches se concentrent sur létude des propriétés fondamentales de stabilité des écoulements de fluides et sont guidées par les applications réelles, en particulier le contrôle des écoulements. Récemment, il a réalisé dimportantes contributions dans les domaines de la micro-fluidique (lanalyse de la manipulation par laser dune goutte dans un micro-canal) et la dynamique des bio-fluides (le descriptif mécanique de lanévrisme de laorte abdominale).

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Mechanics: Fluid mechanics

Related concepts (22)

Boundary layer thickness

This page describes some of the parameters used to characterize the thickness and shape of boundary layers formed by fluid flowing along a solid surface. The defining characteristic of boundary layer flow is that at the solid walls, the fluid's velocity is reduced to zero. The boundary layer refers to the thin transition layer between the wall and the bulk fluid flow. The boundary layer concept was originally developed by Ludwig Prandtl and is broadly classified into two types, bounded and unbounded.

Boundary layer

In physics and fluid mechanics, a boundary layer is the thin layer of fluid in the immediate vicinity of a bounding surface formed by the fluid flowing along the surface. The fluid's interaction with the wall induces a no-slip boundary condition (zero velocity at the wall). The flow velocity then monotonically increases above the surface until it returns to the bulk flow velocity. The thin layer consisting of fluid whose velocity has not yet returned to the bulk flow velocity is called the velocity boundary layer.

Stream function

The stream function is defined for incompressible (divergence-free) flows in two dimensions – as well as in three dimensions with axisymmetry. The flow velocity components can be expressed as the derivatives of the scalar stream function. The stream function can be used to plot streamlines, which represent the trajectories of particles in a steady flow. The two-dimensional Lagrange stream function was introduced by Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1781. The Stokes stream function is for axisymmetrical three-dimensional flow, and is named after George Gabriel Stokes.

Flow velocity

In continuum mechanics the flow velocity in fluid dynamics, also macroscopic velocity in statistical mechanics, or drift velocity in electromagnetism, is a vector field used to mathematically describe the motion of a continuum. The length of the flow velocity vector is the flow speed and is a scalar. It is also called velocity field; when evaluated along a line, it is called a velocity profile (as in, e.g., law of the wall).

Shear flow

In fluid dynamics, shear flow is the flow induced by a force in a fluid. In solid mechanics, shear flow is the shear stress over a distance in a thin-walled structure. For thin-walled profiles, such as that through a beam or semi-monocoque structure, the shear stress distribution through the thickness can be neglected. Furthermore, there is no shear stress in the direction normal to the wall, only parallel. In these instances, it can be useful to express internal shear stress as shear flow, which is found as the shear stress multiplied by the thickness of the section.

Related lectures (29)

Analytical Study of Space

Covers the analytical study of space, focusing on points, lines, and planes.

Boundary Layer Concepts

Explores boundary layer concepts, viscosity impact, drag and lift forces, and dimensional pipe flow analysis.

Inviscid Flows: Understanding Fluid Dynamics

Explores inviscid flows, Reynolds number importance, linear deformations, and volume change in fluid dynamics.

Vector Spaces in R2 and R3

Covers vector spaces in R2 and R3, including planes and lines.

Fluid Mechanics: Foundations and Applications