Thermal Convection in a Non-darcy Hemispherical Porous Medium

Abstract

A simple mathematical theory is proposed to investigate the development of the flow field which is the response of a fluid to the buoyancy force due to the existence of a temperature gradient in a hemispherical fluid-saturated porous medium, assuming the validity of the Brinkman model. The induced flow is assumed to be slow, and Stokes approximation is invoked. It is shown, at all times, the induced fluid motion occurs in the form of eddies on either side of the axis of symmetry. In the steady state, the behavior of the fluid motion on the free surface is similar to that of axial fluid flow.