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A mathematical model for core-annular flows with surfactants. (Un modelo matemático para flujos centro-anulares con Surfactantes.) (English) Zbl 1100.35087

Summary: The stability of core-annular flows is of fundamental scientific and practical importance. The interface between two immiscible fluids can become unstable by several physical mechanisms. Surface tension is one of those mechanisms of practical importance. We include in our model the effects of insoluble surfactants. The full problem is derived considering the surfactant transport equation. We carry out an asymptotic solution of the problem when the annulus is thin compared to the core-fluid radius and for waves which are of the order of the pipe radius. We obtain from matched asymptotic analysis a system of two coupled nonlinear partial differential equations for the interfacial amplitude and the surfactant concentration on the interface.

MSC:

35Q35 PDEs in connection with fluid mechanics
76E17 Interfacial stability and instability in hydrodynamic stability
76T99 Multiphase and multicomponent flows