Subcritical convective instability Part 1. Fluid layers

1966 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 753-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. Joseph ◽  
C. C. Shir

This paper elaborates on the assertion that energy methods provide an always mathematically rigorous and a sometimes physically precise theory of sub-critical convective instability. The general theory, without explicit solutions, is used to deduce that the critical Rayleigh number is a monotonically increasing function of the Nusselt number, that this increase is very slow if the Nusselt number is large, and that a fluid layer heated from below and internally is definitely stable when $RA < \widetilde{RA}(N_s) > 1708/(N_s + 1)$ where Ns is a heat source parameter and $\widetilde{RA}$ is a critical Rayleigh number. This last problem is also solved numerically and the result compared with linear theory. The critical Rayleigh numbers given by energy theory are slightly less than those given by linear theory, this difference increasing from zero with the magnitude of the heat-source intensity. To previous results proving the non-existence of subcritical instabilities in the absence of heat sources is appended this result giving a narrow band of Rayleigh numbers as possibilities for subcritical instabilities.

1980 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guenter Ahlers

Measurements are presented of the Nusselt numbers N and Rayleigh numbers R for shallow layers of 4He gas heated from below. By choosing different temperatures between 2·3 K and 5·1 K and different pressures between 0·07 bar and 1 bar, the extent Q of departures from the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation was varied. When R was evaluated at the static temperature at the midplane of the cell, both the critical Rayleigh number Rc and the initial slope N1 of the Nusselt number were found to be independent of Q within experimental scatter. This result agrees with the prediction of Busse (1967). When R was evaluated at the cold end temperature of the cell, both Rc and N1 depended strongly upon Q.


1997 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Arkani-Hamed

Abstract. The Rayleigh number-Nusselt number, and the Rayleigh number-thermal boundary layer thickness relationships are determined for the three-dimensional convection in a spherical shell of constant physical parameters. Several models are considered with Rayleigh numbers ranging from 1.1 x 102 to 2.1 x 105 times the critical Rayleigh number. At lower Rayleigh numbers the Nusselt number of the three-dimensional convection is greater than that predicted from the boundary layer theory of a horizontal layer but agrees well with the results of an axisymmetric convection in a spherical shell. At high Rayleigh numbers of about 105 times the critical value, which are the characteristics of the mantle convection in terrestrial planets, the Nusselt number of the three-dimensional convection is in good agreement with that of the boundary layer theory. At even higher Rayleigh numbers, the Nusselt number of the three-dimensional convection becomes less than those obtained from the boundary layer theory. The thicknesses of the thermal boundary layers of the spherical shell are not identical, unlike those of the horizontal layer. The inner thermal boundary is thinner than the outer one, by about 30- 40%. Also, the temperature drop across the inner boundary layer is greater than that across the outer boundary layer.


1976 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Long

A theory is developed for the dependence of the Nusselt number on the Rayleigh number in turbulent thermal convection in horizontal fluid layers. The theory is based on a number of assumptions regarding the behaviour in the molecular boundary layers and on the assumption of a buoyancy-defect law in the interior analogous to the velocity-defect law in flow in pipes and channels. The theory involves an unknown constant exponentsand two unknown functions of the Prandtl number. For eithers= ½ ors= 1/3, corresponding to two different theories of thermal convection, and for a given Prandtl number, constants can be chosen to give excellent agreement with existing data over nearly the whole explored range of Rayleigh numbers in the turbulent case. Unfortunately, comparisons with experiment do not permit a definite choice ofs, but consistency with the chosen form of the buoyancy-defect law seems to suggests= 1/3, corresponding to similarity theory.


Author(s):  
S. M. Dash ◽  
S. Sahoo

In this article, the natural convection process in a two-dimensional cold square enclosure is numerically investigated in the presence of two inline square heat sources. Two different heat source boundary conditions are analyzed, namely, case 1 (when one heat source is hot) and case 2 (when two heat sources are hot), using the in-house developed flexible forcing immersed boundary–thermal lattice Boltzmann model. The isotherms, streamlines, local, and surface-averaged Nusselt number distributions are analyzed at ten different vertical eccentric locations of the heat sources for Rayleigh number between 103 and 106. Distinct flow regimes including primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and Rayleigh–Benard cells are observed when the mode of heat transfer is changed from conduction to convection and heat sources eccentricity is varied. For Rayleigh number up to 104, the heat transfer from the enclosure is symmetric for the upward and downward eccentricity of the heat sources. At Rayleigh number greater than 104, the heat transfer from the enclosure is better for downward eccentricity cases that attain a maximum when the heat sources are near the bottom enclosure wall. Moreover, the heat transfer rate from the enclosure in case 2 is nearly twice that of case 1 at all Rayleigh numbers and eccentric locations. The correlations for heat transfer are developed by relating Nusselt number, Rayleigh number, and eccentricity of the heat sources.


Author(s):  
M M Sorour ◽  
M A Hassab ◽  
F A Elewa

The linear stability theory is applied to study the effect of suction on the stability criteria of a horizontal fluid layer confined between two thin porous surfaces heated from below. This investigation covers a wide range of Reynolds number 0 ≥ Re ≥ 30, and Prandtl number 0.72 ≥ Pr ≥ 100. The results show that the critical Rayleigh number increases with Peclet number, and is independent of Pr as far as Re < 3. However, for Re > 3 the critical Rayleigh number is function of both Pr and Pe. In addition, the analysis is extended to study the effect of suction on the stability of two special superimposed fluid layers. The results in the latter case indicate a more stabilizing effect. Furthermore, the effect of thermal boundary conditions is also investigated.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Smart ◽  
K. G. T. Hollands ◽  
G. D. Raithby

Experimentally obtained Nusselt number-Rayleigh number plots are presented for free convective heat transfer across inclined honeycomb panels filled with air. The honeycomb cells were rectangular in shape with very long cell dimensions across the slope and comparatively short dimensions up the slope. Elevation aspect ratios, AE, investigated were 3, 5 and 10; angles of inclination, θ, measured from the horizontal, were 0, 30, 60, 75 and 90 deg. The effect on the Nusselt number, of the emissivities of the plates bounding the honeycomb, and of the emissivity of honeycomb material, was also investigated. The measurements confirmed that the critical Rayleigh number and the post-critical heat transfer depend on the radiant properties of the honeycomb cells. The critical Rayleigh numbers at θ = 0 were well predicted by the methods of Sun and Edwards. For 0 < θ ≤ 75 deg, the critical Rayleigh numbers and the Nusselt-Rayleigh relations were both found to be essentially the same as their horizontal counterparts provided the Rayleigh number was first scaled by cos θ. For θ = 90 deg, the form of the Nusselt-Rayleigh relation was found to be very different from that for θ ≤ 75 deg and similar to that observed for square-celled honeycombs for θ ≥ 30 deg. The θ = 90 deg data were found to be closely correlated by an equation of the form recently proposed by Bejan and Tien.


1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 912-918 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Parsons ◽  
M. L. Arey

Experiments have been performed which describe the transient development of natural convective flow from both a single and two vertically aligned horizontal cylindrical heat sources. The temperature of the wire heat sources was monitored with a resistance bridge arrangement while the development of the flow field was observed optically with a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. Results for the single wire show that after an initial regime where the wire temperature follows pure conductive response to a motionless fluid, two types of fluid motion will begin. The first is characterized as a local buoyancy, wherein the heated fluid adjacent to the wire begins to rise. The second is the onset of global convective motion, this being governed by the thermal stability of the fluid layer immediately above the cylinder. The interaction of these two motions is dependent on the heating rate and relative heat capacities of the cylinder and fluid, and governs whether the temperature response will exceed the steady value during the transient (overshoot). The two heat source experiments show that the merging of the two developing temperature fields is hydrodynamically stabilizing and thermally insulating. For small spacing-to-diameter ratios, the development of convective motion is delayed and the heat transfer coefficients degraded by the proximity of another heat source. For larger spacings, the transient behavior approaches that of a single isolated cylinder.


1987 ◽  
Vol 185 ◽  
pp. 205-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Walden ◽  
Paul Kolodner ◽  
A. Passner ◽  
C. M. Surko

Heat-transport measurements are reported for thermal convection in a rectangular box of aspect’ ratio 10 x 5. Results are presented for Rayleigh numbers up to 35Rc, Prandtl numbers between 2 and 20, and wavenumbers between 0.6 and 1.0kc, where Rc and kc are the critical Rayleigh number and wavenumber for the onset of convection in a layer of infinite lateral extent. The measurements are in good agreement with a phenomenological model which combines the calculations of Nusselt number, as a function of Rayleigh number and roll wavenumber for two-dimensional convection in an infinite layer, with a nonlinear amplitude-equation model developed to account for sidewell attenuation. The appearance of bimodal convection increases the heat transport above that expected for simple parallel-roll convection.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tang ◽  
H. H. Bau

Using linear stability theory and numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the critical Rayleigh number for bifurcation from the no-motion (conduction) state to the motion state in the Rayleigh–Be´nard problem of an infinite fluid layer heated from below with Joule heating and cooled from above can be significantly increased through the use of feedback control strategies effecting small perturbations in the boundary data. The bottom of the layer is heated by a network of heaters whose power supply is modulated in proportion to the deviations of the temperatures at various locations in the fluid from the conductive, no-motion temperatures. Similar control strategies can also be used to induce complicated, time-dependent flows at relatively low Rayleigh numbers.


1991 ◽  
Vol 231 ◽  
pp. 113-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falin Chen

We implement a linear stability analysis of the convective instability in superposed horizontal fluid and porous layers with throughflow in the vertical direction. It is found that in such a physical configuration both stabilizing and destabilizing factors due to vertical throughflow can be enhanced so that a more precise control of the buoyantly driven instability in either a fluid or a porous layer is possible. For ζ = 0.1 (ζ, the depth ratio, defined as the ratio of the fluid-layer depth to the porous-layer depth), the onset of convection occurs in both fluid and porous layers, the relation between the critical Rayleigh number Rcm and the throughflow strength γm is linear and the Prandtl-number (Prm) effect is insignificant. For ζ ≥ 0.2, the onset of convection is largely confined to the fluid layer, and the relation becomes Rcm ∼ γ2m for most of the cases considered except for Prm = 0.1 with large positive γm where the relation Rcm ∼ γ3m holds. The destabilizing mechanisms proposed by Nield (1987 a, b) due to throughflow are confirmed by the numerical results if considered from the viewpoint of the whole system. Nevertheless, from the viewpoint of each single layer, a different explanation can be obtained.


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