Linearized instability of Couette flow in stress-power law fluids

TL;DR

This study analyzes the linear stability of Couette flow in stress-power law fluids, revealing stability depends on boundary conditions and the non-monotonic stress-strain relationship.

Contribution

It introduces a thermodynamic-based constitutive model with non-convex dissipation potential and characterizes flow stability across different boundary conditions.

Findings

Ascending branches are unconditionally stable.

Descending branches are unconditionally unstable.

Stability depends on whether traction is on an ascending or descending branch.

Abstract

This paper examines the linearized stability of plane Couette flow for stress-power law fluids, which exhibit non-monotonic stress-strain rate behavior. The constitutive model is derived from a thermodynamic framework using a non-convex rate of dissipation potential. Under velocity boundary conditions, the system may admit three steady-state solutions. Linearized stability analysis reveals that the two solutions on ascending constitutive branches are unconditionally stable, while the solution on the descending branch is unconditionally unstable. For mixed traction-velocity boundary conditions, the base state is unique. Stability depends solely on whether the prescribed traction lies on an ascending (stable) or descending (unstable) branch of the constitutive curve. The results demonstrate that flow stability in these complex fluids is fundamentally governed by both boundary conditions and constitutive non-monotonicity.