On the non-linear mechanics of wave disturbances in stable and unstable parallel flows Part 2. The development of a solution for plane Poiseuille flow and for plane Couette flow

Abstract

In Part 1 by Stuart (1960), a study was made of the growth of an unstable infinitesimal disturbance, or the decay of a finite disturbance through a stable infinitesimal disturbance to zero, in plane Poiseuille flow, and that paper gave the most important terms in a solution of the equations of motion. The greater part of the present paper is concerned with a re-formulation of this problem which readily yields the complete solution. By the same method a solution for Couette flow is obtained. This solution is only a formal one for the present because the conditions imposed in deriving the solution may not be valid for Couette flow; this flow is believed to be stable to infinitesimal disturbances of the type considered.