A vortex flow intensified by thermal convection

Abstract

This paper describes a thermal-convection-intensified vortex flow within a rotating cylinder with a counter-rotating heated disk located below. This flow tends to mimic certain aspects of the intriguing flow structure of the great red spot in Jupiter by using a simple laboratory setup. Particle image velocimetry measurements reveal the counter-rotating torus vortices in the lower and upper domains and the complex mixing-layer features in the transitional domain between them. In particular, it is found that the vortex structures are significantly intensified by the thermal convection from the heated disk.