Regime Of Thermal Convection Research Articles

Large-scale mean patterns in turbulent convection

Large-scale patterns, which are well-known from the spiral defect chaos (SDC) regime of thermal convection at Rayleigh numbers $\mathit{Ra}<10^{4}$, continue to exist in three-dimensional numerical simulations of turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection in extended cylindrical cells with an aspect ratio ${\it\Gamma}=50$ and $\mathit{Ra}>10^{5}$. They are revealed when the turbulent fields are averaged in time and turbulent fluctuations are thus removed. We apply the Boussinesq closure to estimate turbulent viscosities and diffusivities, respectively. The resulting turbulent Rayleigh number $\mathit{Ra}_{\ast }$, that describes the convection of the mean patterns, is indeed in the SDC range. The turbulent Prandtl numbers are smaller than one, with $0.2\leqslant \mathit{Pr}_{\ast }\leqslant 0.4$ for Prandtl numbers $0.7\leqslant \mathit{Pr}\leqslant 10$. Finally, we demonstrate that these mean flow patterns are robust to an additional finite-amplitude sidewall forcing when the level of turbulent fluctuations in the flow is sufficiently high.

Thermal convection and the convective regime diagram in super-Earths

Numerical models of bottom-heated thermal convection of highly compressible fluid with strongly temperature-dependent viscosity are presented to understand how the Rayleigh number Ra and the temperature dependence of viscosity exert control over the regimes of thermal convection in massive super-Earths. Thermodynamic properties of mantle materials are pressure dependent, but other material properties including the viscosity are not. A stagnant lid develops along the surface of the planet, when the viscosity contrast across the mantle due to temperature dependence r exceeds 106 at high Rayleigh number relevant to super-Earths. The threshold in r, which increases with increasing Ra, is higher than that expected for the Earth from earlier Boussinesq models. The efficiency of convective heat transport measured by the Nusselt number Nu is considerably lower than that expected from Boussinesq models; Nu depends on Ra and r as Nu = 59 ⋅ r− 0.23 ⋅ (Ra/109)0.27, when r ≤ 105. Strong adiabatic compression significantly reduces the activity of hot ascending plumes especially at high r. At r relevant for super-Earths, hot ascending plumes lose their buoyancy on their way and hardly reach the surface boundary: hot spot volcanism due to ascending plumes is probably suppressed on super-Earths. The lithosphere is considerably thicker than that suggested by earlier Boussinesq models and is unlikely to show a plate-like behavior.

Separation of mixtures and heat and mass transfer in connected channels

The stationary and oscillatory regimes of thermal convection in a binary liquid mixture flowing in narrow connected channels under the action of positive and negative thermodiffusion have been studied. It is established that specific oscillatory flows develop in the case of positive thermodiffusion at a small supercriticality. A mechanism explaining the observed phenomena is proposed and confirmed by the results of numerical calculations. It is shown that connected channels can be used in technological processes for the separation of components in binary liquid mixtures.

Stability of steady thermal convection in a tilted rectangular cavity in low-mode approximation

The model system of ordinary differential equations [1, 2] governing the behavior of a non-uniformly heated fluid in a tilted cavity is used for studying the stability of steady regimes of thermal convection at arbitrary (not small) tilting of the rectangular cavity. The bifurcation curve is constructed, which separates the region of parameters (the Rayleigh number — the cavity tilting angle) into two regions — the internal and external ones. In the external region, the system has one stable steady solution, and in the internal region, it has three steady solutions. One of them is always unstable in a monotone way, and two others may be both stable and unstable. The neutral curves are constructed, which determine the boundaries of the incipience of the oscillatory and monotone instabilities.

Capture of convective vortices by an unsteady-state flow in a Hele-Shaw cell

The specific transient regime of thermal convection in a Hele-Shaw cell has been studied experimentally and theoretically. It is a kind of unsteady-state, four-vortex flow, symmetric about the vertical axis, in the form of periodic pulsations of the lower convective cells, with the latter being partially adsorbed by the upper vortices. The transient pulsational regimes in a Hele-Shaw cell were revealed experimentally in studying convective motions in a transformer oil. These pulsational flows are unstable and with time they are always rearranged into a steady four-vortex vibrational regime with reconnection of corner vortices.

Experimental and theoretical investigation of transient convective regimes in a Hele-Shaw cell

Supercritical regimes of thermal convection in a Hele-Shaw cell heated from below are investigated experimentally and theoretically. A stability map of convective regimes is plotted. Novel stable and transient pulsatory convective flows are revealed. The numerical calculations performed for a cell with thermally insulated vertical faces are in agreement with the experimental data.

Numerical simulation of three-dimensional Bénard convection in air

A numerical model is developed to simulate three-dimensional Bénard convection. This model is used to investigate thermal convection in air for Rayleigh numbers between 4000 and 25000. According to experiments, this range of Rayleigh numbers in air covers three regimes of thermal convection: (i) steady two-dimensional convection, (ii) time-periodic convection and (iii) aperiodic convection. Numerical solutions are obtained for each of these regimes and the results are compared with the available experimental data and theoretical predictions.At the Rayleigh number Ra = 4000 the present model is able to produce experimentally realistic wavelengths for the two-dimensional convection. The small amplitude wave disturbances at Ra = 6500 have period τ = 0·24. When they become finite amplitude travelling waves, the period is τ = 0·27. These values are in good agreement with theoretical and experimental results. A detailed study of the form of these waves and of their energetics is given in appendix A. As the Rayleigh number is increased to Ra = 9000 and 25 000, the convection manifests progressively more complex spatial and temporal variations.The vertical heat transport and other mean properties of the convection are calculated for the range of Ra considered and compared with experimental and theoretical data. A detailed comparison is also made between the mean properties of two- and three-dimensional convection at the larger values of Ra. It is found that the heat flux Nu is nearly independent of the dimensionality of the convection.