Hydrodynamic stability of viscous flow between curved porous channel with radial flow

A linear stability analysis has been presented for the flow between long concentric stationary porous cylinders driven by constant azimuthal pressure gradient, when a radial flow through the permeable walls of the cylinders is present. The radial Reynolds number, based on the radial velocity at the inner cylinder and the inner radius is varied from -100 to 30. The linearized stability equations form an eigenvalue problem which are solved using a numerical technique based on classical Runge-Kutta scheme combined with a shooting method, termed as unit disturbance method. It is observed that radially outward flow and strong inward flow have a stabilizing effect, while weak inward flow has a destabilizing effect on the stability. Profiles of the relative amplitude of the perturbed radial velocities show that radially outward flow shifts the vortices toward the outer cylinder, while radially inward flow shifts the vortices toward the inner cylinder. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.