Effect of periodic accelerations on interface stability in a multilayered fluid configuration

The increasing number of research opportunities in a microgravity environment will benefit not only fundamental studies in fluid dynamics, but also technological applications such as those involving materials processing. In particular, fluid configurations that involve fluid-fluid interfaces would occur in a variety of experimental investigations. This work investigates the stability of a configuration involving fluid-fluid interfaces in the presence of a time-dependent (periodic) forcing. The fluid configuration is multilayered and infinite in extent. The analysis is linear and inviscid, and the acceleration vector is oriented perpendicular to each interface. A Floquent analysis is employed, and the resulting algebraic eigensystem is truncated. Nondimensional parameters appear in the algebraic system. A numerical study is performed to elucidate the regions of instability and the effect of parameter variation on the fluid configuration stability.