scholarly journals Structure and stability of steady porous medium convection at large Rayleigh number

2015 ◽  
Vol 772 ◽  
pp. 197-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baole Wen ◽  
Lindsey T. Corson ◽  
Gregory P. Chini

A systematic investigation of unstable steady-state solutions of the Darcy–Oberbeck–Boussinesq equations at large values of the Rayleigh number $\mathit{Ra}$ is performed to gain insight into two-dimensional porous medium convection in domains of varying aspect ratio $L$. The steady convective states are shown to transport less heat than the statistically steady ‘turbulent’ flow realised at the same parameter values: the Nusselt number $\mathit{Nu}\sim \mathit{Ra}$ for turbulent porous medium convection, while $\mathit{Nu}\sim \mathit{Ra}^{0.6}$ for the maximum heat-transporting steady solutions. A key finding is that the lateral scale of the heat-flux-maximising solutions shrinks roughly as $L\sim \mathit{Ra}^{-0.5}$, reminiscent of the decrease of the mean inter-plume spacing observed in turbulent porous medium convection as the thermal forcing is increased. A spatial Floquet analysis is performed to investigate the linear stability of the fully nonlinear steady convective states, extending a recent study by Hewitt et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 737, 2013, pp. 205–231) by treating a base convective state, and secondary stability modes, that satisfy appropriate boundary conditions along plane parallel walls. As in that study, a bulk instability mode is found for sufficiently small-aspect-ratio base states. However, the growth rate of this bulk mode is shown to be significantly reduced by the presence of the walls. Beyond a certain critical $\mathit{Ra}$-dependent aspect ratio, the base state is most strongly unstable to a secondary mode that is localised near the heated and cooled walls. Direct numerical simulations, strategically initialised to investigate the fully nonlinear evolution of the most dangerous secondary instability modes, suggest that the (long time) mean inter-plume spacing in statistically steady porous medium convection results from a balance between the competing effects of these two types of instability.

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Prasad

Two-dimensional, steady natural convection in a rectangular cavity filled with a heat-generating, saturated porous medium has been studied numerically for the case when the vertical walls of the cavity are isothermal and the horizontal walls are either adiabatic or cold. Results are presented in terms of the streamlines and isotherms, the maximum temperature in the cavity, and the local and overall Nusselt numbers. The buoyant flow together with the uniform heat generation produces a highly stratified medium at high Rayleigh numbers. Although the maximum temperature in the cavity θmax invariably increases with the Rayleigh number Ra and aspect ratio A, the rate of increase diminishes with this enhancement in Ra and A. However, the change in the horizontal wall boundary condition from adiabatic to cold reduces θmax. The local heat flux on the bounding walls is a strong function of the Rayleigh number, the aspect ratio, and the wall boundary conditions. The variation in overall Nusselt number is qualitatively similar to that observed in the case of a differentially heated cavity, and the present heat transfer rates are close to that for the cavity heated by applying a uniform heat flux. Several correlations are presented for maximum temperature and overall Nusselt number.


Author(s):  
Baole Wen ◽  
Gregory P. Chini

We investigate the flow structure and dynamics of moderate-Rayleigh-number ($Ra$) thermal convection in a two-dimensional inclined porous layer. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) confirm the emergence of $\mathit{O}(1)$ aspect-ratio large-scale convective rolls, with one `natural' roll rotating in the counterclockwise direction and one `antinatural' roll rotating in the clockwise direction. As the inclination angle $\phi$ is increased, the background mean shear flow intensifies the natural-roll motion, while suppressing the antinatural-roll motion. Moreover, our DNS reveal---for the first time in single-species porous medium convection---the existence of \emph{spatially-localized} convective states at large $\phi$, which we suggest are enabled by subcritical instability of the base state at sufficiently large inclination angles. To better understand the physics of inclined porous medium convection at different $\phi$, we numerically compute steady convective solutions using Newton iteration and then perform secondary stability analysis of these nonlinear states using Floquet theory. Our analysis indicates that the inclination of the porous layer stabilizes the boundary layers of the natural roll, but intensifies the boundary-layer instability of the antinatural roll. These results facilitate physical understanding of the large-scale cellular flows observed in the DNS at different values of $\phi$.


Fluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Baole Wen ◽  
Gregory P. Chini

We investigate the flow structure and dynamics of moderate-Rayleigh-number ( R a ) thermal convection in a two-dimensional inclined porous layer. High-resolution numerical simulations confirm the emergence of O ( 1 ) aspect-ratio large-scale convective rolls, with one ‘natural’ roll rotating in the counterclockwise direction and one ‘antinatural’ roll rotating in the clockwise direction. As the inclination angle ϕ is increased, the background mean shear flow intensifies the natural-roll motion, while suppressing the antinatural-roll motion. Our numerical simulations also reveal—for the first time in single-species porous medium convection—the existence of spatially-localized convective states at large ϕ , which we suggest are enabled by subcritical instability of the base state at sufficiently large inclination angles. To better understand the physics of inclined porous medium convection at different ϕ , we numerically compute steady convective solutions using Newton iteration and then perform secondary stability analysis of these nonlinear states using Floquet theory. Our analysis indicates that the inclination of the porous layer stabilizes the boundary layers of the natural roll, but intensifies the boundary-layer instability of the antinatural roll. These results facilitate physical understanding of the large-scale cellular flows observed in the numerical simulations at different values of ϕ .


2018 ◽  
Vol 837 ◽  
pp. 670-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baole Wen ◽  
Gregory P. Chini

High-Rayleigh-number ($Ra$) convection in an inclined two-dimensional porous layer is investigated using direct numerical simulations (DNS) and stability and variational upper-bound analyses. When the inclination angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$ of the layer satisfies $0^{\circ }<\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}\lesssim 25^{\circ }$, DNS confirm that the flow exhibits a three-region wall-normal asymptotic structure in accord with the strictly horizontal ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}=0^{\circ }$) case, except that as $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$ is increased the time-mean spacing between neighbouring interior plumes also increases substantially. Both DNS and upper-bound analysis indicate that the heat transport enhancement factor (i.e. the Nusselt number) $Nu\sim CRa$ with a $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$-dependent prefactor $C$. When $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}>\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{t}$, however, where $30^{\circ }<\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}_{t}<32^{\circ }$ independently of $Ra$, the columnar flow structure is completely broken down: the flow transitions to a large-scale travelling-wave convective roll state, and the heat transport is significantly reduced. To better understand the physics of inclined porous medium convection at large $Ra$ and modest inclination angles, a spatial Floquet analysis is performed, yielding predictions of the linear stability of numerically computed, fully nonlinear steady convective states. The results show that there exist two types of instability when $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}\neq 0^{\circ }$: a bulk-mode instability and a wall-mode instability, consistent with previous findings for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}=0^{\circ }$ (Wen et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 772, 2015, pp. 197–224). The background flow induced by the inclination of the layer intensifies the bulk-mode instability during its subsequent nonlinear evolution, thereby favouring increased spacing between the interior plumes relative to that observed in convection in a horizontal porous layer.


2013 ◽  
Vol 377 (41) ◽  
pp. 2931-2938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baole Wen ◽  
Gregory P. Chini ◽  
Navid Dianati ◽  
Charles R. Doering

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayder I. Mohammed ◽  
Donald Giddings

Abstract Heat and mass transfer are investigated numerically with steady-state laminar natural convection through a vertical cylindrical enclosure filled with a liquid-saturated porous medium. The vertical wall is under a constant magnetic field and various durations of periodic heating boundary condition; the top and bottom surfaces are kept at a constant cold temperature. Continuity, momentum, and energy equations are transformed to dimensionless equations. The finite difference approach with the line successive over-relaxation (LSOR) method is used to obtain the computational results. This study covers the heat transfer, the temperature distribution, and the velocity field in the domain under the variation of different parameters. The code used is validated by modifying it to analyze the Nusselt number in the existing experimental literature of Izadpanah et al. (1998, “Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Convective Heat Transfer in a Cylindrical Porous Medium,” Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow, 19(6), pp. 629–635). This work shows that Nusselt number decreases (with varying gradient) as the aspect ratio increases, and that it increases as the Rayleigh number increases. The centerline temperature has a proportional relationship with the heating amplitude and the heating period (as the system receives more heat) and is inversely proportional with Rayleigh number. Increasing the Rayleigh number causes increased convective velocity, which affects the position of the hot region, and causes a decrease in the temperature field. Increasing the aspect ratio results in a warm stream at the center of the cylinder, and when the time period of the heating increases, the circulation becomes faster and the intensity of the temperature contour layers decreases. In this work, a correlation for Nu as a function of the mentioned parameters is developed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rathinam Thansekhar ◽  
Babu Mahesh ◽  
Sekhar Chandra

A numerical study has been carried out for free convection in a vertical cylindrical annulus filled with a porous medium and whose inner wall is isothermally heated and the outer wall is isothermally cooled, the horizontal walls being insulated. The porous medium is assumed to be both hydrodynamically and thermally anisotropic. Numerical results are reported for 0.1 ? K*? 10, 0.1 ? ? ? 10,1 ? A ? 20,2 ? Rr ? 20, and Ra*? 10000. Anisotropy of the porous medium is found to affect fluid flow, temperature distribution and heat transfer significantly. Higher permeability in the vertical direction enhances convective flow intensity and heat transfer inside the annulus. Average Nusselt number on the inner hot wall increases with increase in Rayleigh number or radius ratio, while it decreases with increase in aspect ratio or permeability ratio. The influence of thermal anisotropy is not so significant as that of hydrodynamic anisotropy. The numerically predicted temperature distribution at various locations inside the annulus shows reasonable agreement with experimental results available for isotropic porous medium. Based on a parametric study, correlation for heat transfer is presented in terms of Rayleigh number, aspect ratio, radius ratio, and permeability ratio.


Author(s):  
Salaika Parvin ◽  
Nepal Chandra Roy ◽  
Litan Kumar Saha ◽  
Sadia Siddiqa

A numerical study is performed to investigate nanofluids' flow field and heat transfer characteristics between the domain bounded by a square and a wavy cylinder. The left and right walls of the cavity are at constant low temperature while its other adjacent walls are insulated. The convective phenomena take place due to the higher temperature of the inner corrugated surface. Super elliptic functions are used to transform the governing equations of the classical rectangular enclosure into a system of equations valid for concentric cylinders. The resulting equations are solved iteratively with the implicit finite difference method. Parametric results are presented in terms of streamlines, isotherms, local and average Nusselt numbers for a wide range of scaled parameters such as nanoparticles concentration, Rayleigh number, and aspect ratio. Several correlations have been deduced at the inner and outer surface of the cylinders for the average Nusselt number, which gives a good agreement when compared against the numerical results. The strength of the streamlines increases significantly due to an increase in the aspect ratio of the inner cylinder and the Rayleigh number. As the concentration of nanoparticles increases, the average Nusselt number at the internal and external cylinders becomes stronger. In addition, the average Nusselt number for the entire Rayleigh number range gets enhanced when plotted against the volume fraction of the nanofluid.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6511
Author(s):  
Alessandro Quintino ◽  
Marta Cianfrini ◽  
Ivano Petracci ◽  
Vincenzo Andrea Spena ◽  
Massimo Corcione

Buoyancy-induced convection from a pair of staggered heated vertical plates suspended in free air is studied numerically with the main scope to investigate the basic heat and momentum transfer features and to determine in what measure any independent variable affects the thermal performance of each plate and both plates. A computational code based on the SIMPLE-C algorithm for pressure-velocity coupling is used to solve the system of the governing conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy. Numerical simulations are carried out for different values of the Rayleigh number based on the plate length, as well as of the horizontal separation distance between the plates and their vertical alignment, which are both normalized by the plate length. It is observed that an optimal separation distance between the plates for the maximum heat transfer rate related to the Rayleigh number and the vertical alignment of the plates does exist. Based on the results obtained, suitable dimensionless heat transfer correlations are developed for each plate and for the entire system.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 879-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Andrew S. Rees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the manner in which a yield stress fluid begins convecting when it saturates a porous medium. A sidewall-heated rectangular cavity is selected as the testbed for this pioneering work. Design/methodology/approach – Steady solutions are obtained using a second order accurate finite difference method, line relaxation based on the Gauss-Seidel smoother, a Full Approximation Scheme multigrid algorithm with V-cycling and a regularization of the Darcy-Bingham model to smooth the piecewise linear relation between the Darcy flux and the applied body forces. Findings – While Newtonian fluids always convect whenever the Darcy-Rayleigh number is nonzero, Bingham fluids are found to convect only when the Darcy-Rayleigh number exceeds a value which is linearly dependent on both the Rees-Bingham number and the overall perimeter of the rectangular cavity. Stagnation is always found in the centre of the cavity and in regions close to the four corners. Care must be taken over the selection of the regularization constant. Research limitations/implications – The Darcy-Rayleigh number is restricted to values which are at or below 200. Originality/value – This is the first investigation of the effect of yield stress on nonlinear convection in porous media.


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