Statistics of kinetic and thermal energy dissipation rates in two-dimensional turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection

Abstract

We investigate the statistical properties of the kinetic$\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{u}$and thermal$\unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}$energy dissipation rates in two-dimensional (2-D) turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard (RB) convection. Direct numerical simulations were carried out in a box with unit aspect ratio in the Rayleigh number range$10^{6}\leqslant Ra\leqslant 10^{10}$for Prandtl numbers$Pr=0.7$and 5.3. The probability density functions (PDFs) of both dissipation rates are found to deviate significantly from a log-normal distribution. The PDF tails can be well described by a stretched exponential function, and become broader for higher Rayleigh number and lower Prandtl number, indicating an increasing degree of small-scale intermittency with increasing Reynolds number. Our results show that the ensemble averages$\langle \unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{u}\rangle _{V,t}$and$\langle \unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}\rangle _{V,t}$scale as$Ra^{-0.18\sim -0.20}$, which is in excellent agreement with the scaling estimated from the two global exact relations for the dissipation rates. By separating the bulk and boundary-layer contributions to the total dissipations, our results further reveal that$\langle \unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{u}\rangle _{V,t}$and$\langle \unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}\rangle _{V,t}$are both dominated by the boundary layers, corresponding to regimes$I_{l}$and$I_{u}$in the Grossmann–Lohse (GL) theory (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 407, 2000, pp. 27–56). To include the effects of thermal plumes, the plume–background partition is also considered and$\langle \unicode[STIX]{x1D700}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}}\rangle _{V,t}$is found to be plume dominated. Moreover, the boundary-layer/plume contributions scale as those predicted by the GL theory, while the deviations from the GL predictions are observed for the bulk/background contributions. The possible reasons for the deviations are discussed.