On the Stability of Oscillatory Pipe Flows

Abstract

The linear stability of pure oscillatory pipe flow is investigated by solving the linearized disturbance equations as an initial value problem. The importance of the initial conditions on transient dynamics of the flow is analyzed. It is shown that transient growth can play an important role in the development of flow instability. The accuracy of the quasi-steady assumption is assessed. It is shown that the growth rates obtained with this assumption deviate considerably from the results obtained with a direct numerical solution of the linearized initial value problem.