Centrifugal instability of the wake-dominated curved compressible mixing-layers.

The mixing layer is an interfacial region between two moving homogeneous fluids of different density, compressibility, velocity and temperature. G\"{o}rtler instability is a type of centrifugal instability which could arise from the mixing layer system owing to the dynamical effect of centreline curvature. The linear development of G\"{o}rtler vortices at high Reynolds number within both stably and unstably curved compressible mixing layers is investigated. The purpose behind this investigation is to determine if the presence of a G\"{o}rtler mode could enhance the mixing of two fluids in certain physical situations such as the mixing between fuel and oxidizer within a scramjet engine for the propulsion of hypersonic aircraft. The investigation is made by examining the growth rate and the location of the G\"{o}rtler modes in the limit of larger G\"{o}rtler number. An analytical Gaussian wake model is first used to predict the development of the G\"{o}rtler modes. A more accurate basic wake model has also been obtained numerically to compare with the earlier prediction.