scholarly journals On the evolution of flow topology in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 115105 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Dabbagh ◽  
F. X. Trias ◽  
A. Gorobets ◽  
A. Oliva
2016 ◽  
Vol 805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Leong Chong ◽  
Ke-Qing Xia

We study the effect of severe geometrical confinement in Rayleigh–Bénard convection with a wide range of width-to-height aspect ratio $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$, $1/128\leqslant \unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\leqslant 1$, and Rayleigh number $Ra$, $3\times 10^{4}\leqslant Ra\leqslant 1\times 10^{11}$, at a fixed Prandtl number of $Pr=4.38$ by means of direct numerical simulations in Cartesian geometry with no-slip walls. For convection under geometrical confinement (decreasing $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ from 1), three regimes can be recognized (Chong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 115, 2015, 264503) based on the global and local properties in terms of heat transport, plume morphology and flow structures. These are Regime I: classical boundary-layer-controlled regime; Regime II: plume-controlled regime; and Regime III: severely confined regime. The study reveals that the transition into Regime III leads to totally different heat and momentum transport scalings and flow topology from the classical regime. The convective heat transfer scaling, in terms of the Nusselt number $Nu$, exhibits the scaling $Nu-1\sim Ra^{0.61}$ over three decades of $Ra$ at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=1/128$, which contrasts sharply with the classical scaling $Nu-1\sim Ra^{0.31}$ found at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}=1$. The flow in Regime III is found to be dominated by finger-like, long-lived plume columns, again in sharp contrast with the mushroom-like, fragmented thermal plumes typically observed in the classical regime. Moreover, we identify a Rayleigh number for regime transition, $Ra^{\ast }=(29.37/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4})^{3.23}$, such that the scaling transition in $Nu$ and $Re$ can be clearly demonstrated when plotted against $Ra/Ra^{\ast }$.


Author(s):  
Sina Kashanj ◽  
David Nobes

To study the flow topology and temperature distribution of Rayleigh-Benard convection in a highly slender cell, measurement of the simultaneous velocity and temperature in the 3-D domain is required. For this aim, implementing a simultaneous time-resolved 3-D PTV and two-colour PLIF is planned. As a part of this development, for both PTV and two-colour PLIF techniques, the experimental setup has been implemented separately to measure time-resolved 2-D velocity and temperature and is presented in this paper. For PTV, a scanning system is also utilized to scan the flow field to capture the planar velocity in different depths of the flow domain. Progress on calculation of the out-of-plane velocity component including the theory is discussed. Finally, results of the time-resolved 2-D PTV and PLIF systems are presented.


2015 ◽  
Vol 782 ◽  
pp. 380-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Togni ◽  
Andrea Cimarelli ◽  
Elisabetta De Angelis

A novel approach for the study of turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection (RBC) in the compound physical/scale space domain is presented. All data come from direct numerical simulations of turbulent RBC in a laterally unbounded domain confined between two horizontal walls, for Prandtl number $0.7$ and Rayleigh numbers $1.7\times 10^{5}$, $1.0\times 10^{6}$ and $1.0\times 10^{7}$. A preliminary analysis of the flow topology focuses on the events of impingement and emission of thermal plumes, which are identified here in terms of the horizontal divergence of the instantaneous velocity field. The flow dynamics is then described in more detail in terms of turbulent kinetic energy and temperature variance budgets. Three distinct regions where turbulent fluctuations are produced, transferred and finally dissipated are identified: a bulk region, a transitional layer and a boundary layer. A description of turbulent RBC dynamics in both physical and scale space is finally presented, completing the classic single-point balances. Detailed scale-by-scale budgets for the second-order velocity and temperature structure functions are shown for different geometrical locations. An unexpected behaviour is observed in both the viscous and thermal transitional layers consisting of a diffusive reverse transfer from small to large scales of velocity and temperature fluctuations. Through the analysis of the instantaneous field in terms of the horizontal divergence, it is found that the enlargement of thermal plumes following the impingement represents the triggering mechanism which entails the reverse transfer. The coupling of this reverse transfer with the spatial transport towards the wall is an interesting mechanism found at the basis of some peculiar aspects of the flow. As an example, it is found that, during the impingement, the presence of the wall is felt by the plumes through the pressure field mainly at large scales. These and other peculiar aspects shed light on the role of thermal plumes in the self-sustained cycle of turbulence in RBC, and may have strong repercussions on both theoretical and modelling approaches to convective turbulence.


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