Fluid Dynamics & Hydrodynamics

Rayleigh-Taylor Instability

Simulate Lord Rayleigh and G.I. Taylor's buoyancy fluid instability. When a heavy fluid ($\rho_1$) is supported above a lighter fluid ($\rho_2$) under gravity $g$, microscopic interface perturbations amplify into characteristic mushroom-cap finger plumes.

Atwood Number A 0.50

Initial Growth Rate γ 3.12 s⁻¹

Plume Front Velocity 25.4 cm/s

Fluid Parameters

Heavy Fluid Density ρ₁ 3.0 g/cm³

Light Fluid Density ρ₂ 1.0 g/cm³

Visual Overlay

Show Mushroom-Cap Finger Plumes

Show Buoyancy Acceleration Vectors

Show Fluid Density Badges

Controls

Atwood Number & Rayleigh-Taylor Growth

Atwood Number: A = (ρ_heavy - ρ_light) / (ρ_heavy + ρ_light)
Linear Growth Rate: γ = √(A · g · k)
Non-linear Spike Speed: v_spike ≈ √(A · g · λ) (Mushroom finger formation)

Developer Reference

Core Algorithm & Standalone Script

// Rayleigh-Taylor buoyancy mushroom plume solver
const canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
// A = (rho1 - rho2) / (rho1 + rho2)