Nonlinear electrohydrodynamic stability of a Poiseuille two–layer flow

The long–wave stability of the Poiseuille two–layer flow of homogeneous viscous dielectrics between plate electrodes under a constant potential difference is studied in an electrohydrodynamic approximation. A linear asymptotic stability analysis shows that surface polarization forces are a destabilizing factor, in addition to viscous stratification. The method of many scales is used to obtain the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation governing the weakly nonlinear evolution of the interface between the dielectrics. Within the framework of the approaches used, it is shown that nonlinear interactions limit perturbation growth and the interface does not fail even for a rather large potential difference.