Fluid dynamics of double diffusive systems. Final report

Abstract

Over the past seven years the authors have conducted an experimental, numerical, and theoretical study of the stability of doubly diffusive systems, and of mixing processes in stratified turbulence. For the study of the stability of doubly diffusive systems continuous gradients of two diffusing components (heat and salinity in this case) were used as the initial condition, and forcing was introduced by lateral heating and surface shear. The goals of this work included (1) quantification of the effects of finite amplitude disturbances on stable, double diffusive systems, particularly with respect to lateral heating, (2) development of an improved understanding of the physical phenomena present in sheardriven flows in doubly diffusive stratified environments, (3) increasing their knowledge-base on turbulent flow in stratified environments and how to represent it, and (4) formulation of a numerical code for such flows. In particular, the overall goals of this aspect of the research were as follows: (1) develop more general stability and scaling criteria for the destabilization of doubly-stratified systems, (2) study the variation of flow structure and scales with Rayleigh ratio and lateral heating ratio, (3) delineate the mechanisms governing convective layer formation and merging, (4) study the mixing processes within the convective layers and across interfaces, and estimate the heat and mass fluxes in such a system, (5) quantify the effects of turbulence and coherent structures (due to a wind-driven surface shear) on a doubly stratified system, and (6) study the interaction between surface shear and side-wall heating destabilization mechanisms. Goals 1 through 4 have been successfully completed and the results are described in this report.