The Experimental Fluid Mechanics and Instability Laboratory is located in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department at The University of Arizona.

 

The laboratory is headed by Dr. Jeff Jacobs, focusing on the experimental study of Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities.  These fluid instabilities occur at the interface between two fluids of different densities when subjected to adverse acceleration or shock acceleration.  The Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) is a buoyancy driven instability that takes place in a stratified fluid system with a constant acceleration directed from the heavy fluid into the light fluid in the presence of interfacial perturbations.  Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is similar to Rayleigh-Taylor instability, but occurs when the interface is shock accelerated. 

 

Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities are fundamental fluid instabilities, and have applications in many fields, including astrophysics, supersonic combustion flows and fusion reactions.