Kinetic study of compressible Rayleigh-Taylor instability with time-varying acceleration

Abstract

Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability commonly arises in compressible systems with time-dependent acceleration in practical applications. To capture the complex dynamics of such systems, a two-component discrete Boltzmann method is developed to systematically investigate the compressible RT instability driven by variable acceleration. Specifically, the effects of different acceleration periods, amplitudes, and phases are systematically analyzed. The simulation results are interpreted from three key perspectives: the density gradient, which characterizes the spatial variation in density; the thermodynamic non-equilibrium strength, which quantifies the system's deviation from local thermodynamic equilibrium; and the fraction of non-equilibrium regions, which captures the spatial distribution of non-equilibrium behaviors. Notably, the fluid system exhibits rich and diverse dynamic patterns resulting from the interplay of multiple competing physical mechanisms, including time-dependent acceleration, RT instability, diffusion, and dissipation effects. These findings provide deeper insights into the evolution and regulation of compressible RT instability under complex driving conditions.