scholarly journals Comparing growth rates of simulated moist and dry convective thermals

Author(s):  
Hugh Morrison ◽  
John M. Peters ◽  
Steven C. Sherwood

AbstractThe spreading rates of convective thermals are linked to their net entrainment, and previous literature has suggested differences in spreading rates between moist and dry thermals. In this study, growth rates of idealized numerically-simulated axisymmetric dry and moist convective thermals are directly compared. In an environment with dry-neutral stratification, the increase of thermal radius with height, dR/dz, is a factor of 1.7 larger for dry compared to moist thermals. The fractional change in thermal volume ε is also greater for dry thermals within a distance of ~4 radii from the initial thermal height. Values of dR/dz are nearly constant with height for both moist and dry thermals consistent with classical theory based on dimensional analysis. The simulations are also consistent with theory relating impulse, circulation, and spreading rate for dry thermals proposed in previous papers and extended here to moist thermals, predicting they will spread less than dry thermals. Tests adding heating to dry thermals, either spread uniformly across the thermal volume or concentrated in the inner core, indicate dR/dz and ε are smaller for moist thermals because latent heating is confined mostly to their cores. Additional axisymmetric moist simulations using modified lapse rates and large eddy simulations support this analysis. Overall, these results indicate that slow spreading rates are a fundamental feature of moist thermals caused by latent heating which alters the spatial distribution of buoyancy within them compared to dry thermals.

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 2731-2741
Author(s):  
Rahul B. Mahajan ◽  
Gregory J. Hakim

Abstract The spatial spreading of infinitesimal disturbances superposed on a turbulent baroclinic jet is explored. This configuration is representative of analysis errors in an idealized midlatitude storm track and the insight gained may be helpful to understand the spreading of forecast errors in numerical weather prediction models. This problem is explored through numerical experiments of a turbulent baroclinic jet that is perturbed with spatially localized disturbances. Solutions from a quasigeostrophic model for the disturbance fields are compared with those for a passive tracer to determine whether disturbances propagate faster than the basic-state flow. Results show that the disturbance spreading rate is sensitive to the structure of the initial disturbance. Disturbances that are localized in potential vorticity (PV) have far-field winds that allow the disturbance to travel downstream faster than disturbances that are initially localized in geopotential, which have no far-field wind. Near the jet, the spread of the disturbance field is observed to exceed the tracer field for PV-localized disturbances, but not for the geopotential-localized disturbances. Spreading rates faster than the flow for geopotential-localized disturbances are found to occur only for disturbances located off the jet axis. These results are compared with those for zonal and time-independent jets to qualitatively assess the effects of transience and nonlinearity. This comparison suggests that the average properties of localized perturbations to the turbulent jet can be decomposed into a superposition of dynamics associated with a time-independent parallel flow plus a “diffusion” process.


Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clément de Sagazan ◽  
Jean-Arthur Olive

The stabilizing effect of surface processes on strain localization, albeit predicted by several decades of geodynamic modeling, remains difficult to document in real tectonic settings. Here we assess whether intense sedimentation can explain the longevity of the normal faults bounding the Andaman Sea spreading center (ASSC). The structure of the ASSC is analogous to a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge (MOR), with symmetric, evenly spaced axis-facing faults. The average spacing of faults with throws ≥100 m (8.8 km) is however large compared to unsedimented MORs of commensurate spreading rate, suggesting that sedimentation helps focus tectonic strain onto a smaller number of longer-lived faults. We test this idea by simulating a MOR with a specified fraction of magmatic plate separation (M), subjected to a sedimentation rate (s) ranging from 0 to 1 mm/yr. We find that for a given M ≥ 0.7, increasing s increases fault lifespan by ~50%, and the effect plateaus for s > 0.5 mm/yr. Sedimentation prolongs slip on active faults by leveling seafloor relief and raising the threshold for breaking new faults. The effect is more pronounced for faults with a slower throw rate, which is favored by a greater M. These results suggest that sedimentation-enhanced fault lifespan is a viable explanation for the large spacing of ASSC faults if magmatic input is sufficiently robust. By contrast, longer-lived faults that form under low M are not strongly influenced by sedimentation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 543-547 ◽  
pp. 3843-3847
Author(s):  
Ming Tang ◽  
Gui Sheng Gan ◽  
Hu Luo ◽  
Shu De Gan ◽  
Qing Meng Wang ◽  
...  

In the assembly of electronic products, developing good organic acid fluxes plays an important role in improving the solderability of lead-free solders. In this paper, a variety of fluxes containing 5% (mass fraction) organic acid activators were prepared. Effects of different activators on the spreading rates of Sn-0.3Ag0.7Cu solder were studied. The results show that: activity of monobasic acids are weak except for benzoic acid; dibasic acids and polybasic acids have relatively strong activity but serious corrosion and slightly less activity persistence. Compounding palmitic acid and adipic acid in the mass ratio of 1:2 as the activator, the average spreading rate of Sn-0.3Ag0.7Cu solder is 71.11% in maximum. Compounding succinic acid and adipic acid in the mass ratio of 3:7 as the activator, the average spreading rate is up to 72.49% in maximum. And solder spots are in-erratic, bright and plump, meeting the quality requirements of electronic micro-connection.


2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 236-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Braun ◽  
Jason A. Sippel ◽  
David S. Nolan

Abstract This study examines the potential negative influences of dry midlevel air on the development of tropical cyclones (specifically, its role in enhancing cold downdraft activity and suppressing storm development). The Weather Research and Forecasting model is used to construct two sets of idealized simulations of hurricane development in environments with different configurations of dry air. The first set of simulations begins with dry air located north of the vortex center by distances ranging from 0 to 270 km, whereas the second set of simulations begins with dry air completely surrounding the vortex, but with moist envelopes in the vortex core ranging in size from 0 to 150 km in radius. No impact of the dry air is seen for dry layers located more than 270 km north of the initial vortex center (~3 times the initial radius of maximum wind). When the dry air is initially closer to the vortex center, it suppresses convective development where it entrains into the storm circulation, leading to increasingly asymmetric convection and slower storm development. The presence of dry air throughout the domain, including the vortex center, substantially slows storm development. However, the presence of a moist envelope around the vortex center eliminates the deleterious impact on storm intensity. Instead, storm size is significantly reduced. The simulations suggest that dry air slows intensification only when it is located very close to the vortex core at early times. When it does slow storm development, it does so primarily by inducing outward-moving convective asymmetries that temporarily shift latent heating radially outward away from the high-vorticity inner core.


Author(s):  
Samuel Bonnafous ◽  
Victor Piffaut ◽  
Wai-Ho Choy ◽  
Dimitris E. Nikitopoulos

Results from un-forced experiments in flows ensuing from circular and equivalent square coaxial nozzles with parallel sides are presented in this paper. The nozzles are contoured and are designed so that the hydraulic diameters of the internal flow passages are identical for both geometries. The flow experiments were conducted at a co-flow-jet Reynolds number of Re = 16,000 and inner-to-outer jet nominal velocity ratios of λ = 0, 0.5, 1.5. Axis switching, a phenomenon readily observed in single non-axisymmetric nozzles, is shown for the first time to occur in the square coaxial nozzles as well. Comparisons of the mixing regions of the flows from both geometries are made to examine mixing advantages when using square nozzle configurations. Comparisons of stream wise mean velocity fields measured on a center plane parallel to the square nozzle sides, on a diagonal plane of the square nozzle and the center plane of the corresponding circular nozzle, are presented and discussed. Axis switching is shown to be evident in the near-field shear regions for all velocity ratios, resulting in considerable mixing advantages. The spreading rates (and therefore mixing rates) of the outer mixing region of the square nozzles clearly exceed the spreading rate observed in the circular case on the central plane. Axis switching and improved mixing is also observed in the inner mixing region of the square nozzle. This work is relevant to coaxial nozzles for gas turbine combustor applications, although the study has been carried out in a scaled up geometry with respect to this application.


2011 ◽  
Vol 670 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. MALDARELLI

Droplets of an aqueous phase placed on a very hydrophobic, waxy surface bead-up rather than spread, forming a sessile drop with a relatively large contact angle at the edge of the drop. Surfactant molecules, when dissolved in the aqueous phase, can facilitate the wetting of an aqueous drop on a hydrophobic surface. One class of surfactants, superwetters, can cause aqueous droplets to move very rapidly over a hydrophobic surface, thereby completely wetting the surface (superspreading). A recent numerical study of the hydrodynamics of superspreading by Karapetsas, Craster & Matar (J. Fluid Mech., this issue, vol. 670, 2011, pp. 5–37) provides a clear explanation of how these surfactants cause such a dramatic change in wetting behaviour. The study shows that large spreading rates occur when the surfactant can transfer directly from the air/aqueous to the aqueous/hydrophobic solid interface at the contact line. This transfer reduces the concentration of surfactant on the fluid interface, which would otherwise be elevated due to the advection accompanying the drop spreading. The reduced concentration creates a Marangoni force along the fluid surface in the direction of spreading, and a concave rim in the vicinity of the contact line with a large dynamic contact angle. Both of these effects act to increase the spreading rate. The molecular structure of the superwetters allows them to assemble on a hydrophobic surface, enabling the direct transfer from the fluid to the solid surface at the contact line.


Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 1069-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingo Grevemeyer ◽  
Nicholas W. Hayman ◽  
Dietrich Lange ◽  
Christine Peirce ◽  
Cord Papenberg ◽  
...  

Abstract The depth of earthquakes along mid-ocean ridges is restricted by the relatively thin brittle lithosphere that overlies a hot, upwelling mantle. With decreasing spreading rate, earthquakes may occur deeper in the lithosphere, accommodating strain within a thicker brittle layer. New data from the ultraslow-spreading Mid-Cayman Spreading Center (MCSC) in the Caribbean Sea illustrate that earthquakes occur to 10 km depth below seafloor and, hence, occur deeper than along most other slow-spreading ridges. The MCSC spreads at 15 mm/yr full rate, while a similarly well-studied obliquely opening portion of the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) spreads at an even slower rate of ∼8 mm/yr if the obliquity of spreading is considered. The SWIR has previously been proposed to have earthquakes occurring as deep as 32 km, but no shallower than 5 km. These characteristics have been attributed to the combined effect of stable deformation of serpentinized mantle and an extremely deep thermal boundary layer. In the context of our MCSC results, we reanalyze the SWIR data and find a maximum depth of seismicity of 17 km, consistent with compilations of spreading-rate dependence derived from slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges. Together, the new MCSC data and SWIR reanalysis presented here support the hypothesis that depth-seismicity relationships at mid-ocean ridges are a function of their thermal-mechanical structure as reflected in their spreading rate.


2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 2898-2914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Da-Lin Zhang ◽  
Chanh Q. Kieu

Abstract Although the forced secondary circulations (FSCs) associated with hurricane-like vortices have been previously examined, understanding is still limited to idealized, axisymmetric flows and forcing functions. In this study, the individual contributions of latent heating, frictional, and dry dynamical processes to the FSCs of a hurricane vortex are separated in order to examine how a hurricane can intensify against the destructive action of vertical shear and how a warm-cored eye forms. This is achieved by applying a potential vorticity (PV) inversion and quasi-balanced omega equations system to a cloud-resolving simulation of Hurricane Andrew (1992) during its mature stage with the finest grid size of 6 km. It is shown that the latent heating FSC, tilting outward with height, acts to oppose the shear-forced vertical tilt of the storm, and part of the upward mass fluxes near the top of the eyewall is detrained inward, causing the convergence aloft and subsidence warming in the hurricane eye. The friction FSC is similar to that of the Ekman pumping with its peak upward motion occurring near the top of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in the eye. About 40% of the PBL convergence is related to surface friction and the rest to latent heating in the eyewall. In contrast, the dry dynamical forcing is determined by vertical shear and system-relative flow. When an axisymmetric balanced vortex is subjected to westerly shear, a deep countershear FSC appears across the inner-core region with the rising (sinking) motion downshear (upshear) and easterly sheared horizontal flows in the vertical. The shear FSC is shown to reduce the destructive roles of the large-scale shear imposed, as much as 40%, including its forced vertical tilt. Moreover, the shear FSC intensity is near-linearly proportional to the shear magnitude, and the wavenumber-1 vertical motion asymmetry can be considered as the integrated effects of the shear FSCs from all the tropospheric layers. The shear FSC can be attributed to the Laplacian of thermal advection and the temporal and spatial variations of centrifugal force in the quasi-balanced omega equation, and confirms the previous finding of the development of wavenumber-1 cloud asymmetries in hurricanes. Hurricane eye dynamics are presented by synthesizing the latent heating FSC with previous studies. The authors propose to separate the eye formation from maintenance processes. The upper-level inward mass detrainment forces the subsidence warming (and the formation of an eye), the surface pressure fall, and increased rotation in the eyewall. This increased rotation will induce an additional vertical pressure gradient force to balance the net buoyancy generated by the subsidence warming for the maintenance of the hurricane eye. In this sense, the negative vertical shear in tangential wind in the eyewall should be considered as being forced by the subsidence warming, and maintained by the rotation in the eyewall.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document