Experiments on Convective Instability of Large Prandtl Number Fluids in a Vertical Slot

1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wakitani

The stability of thermal convection of large Prandtl number fluids in a vertical slot (aspect ratio = 10, 15, or 20) was studied experimentally. Secondary cells began to appear from the center of the slot and then prevailed. The critical Rayleigh number showed an increasing trend as the aspect ratio was increased, and became higher than that obtained from a linear stability analysis owing to a possible traveling wave mode of instability. As the Rayleigh number was increased, either the onset of the tertiary cells or the traveling waves occurred depending on the Prandtl number. In the transition process from laminar to turbulent flow, the secondary cells around the end regions split into smaller cells and an unsteady flow structure appeared with an original secondary cell in the center region and some smaller cells along the sidewalls.

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Shankar ◽  
Jai Kumar ◽  
I. S. Shivakumara

The stability of natural convection in a dielectric fluid-saturated vertical porous layer in the presence of a uniform horizontal AC electric field is investigated. The flow in the porous medium is governed by Brinkman–Wooding-extended-Darcy equation with fluid viscosity different from effective viscosity. The resulting generalized eigenvalue problem is solved numerically using the Chebyshev collocation method. The critical Grashof number Gc, the critical wave number ac, and the critical wave speed cc are computed for a wide range of Prandtl number Pr, Darcy number Da, the ratio of effective viscosity to the fluid viscosity Λ, and AC electric Rayleigh number Rea. Interestingly, the value of Prandtl number at which the transition from stationary to traveling-wave mode takes place is found to be independent of Rea. The interconnectedness of the Darcy number and the Prandtl number on the nature of modes of instability is clearly delineated and found that increasing in Da and Rea is to destabilize the system. The ratio of viscosities Λ shows stabilizing effect on the system at the stationary mode, but to the contrary, it exhibits a dual behavior once the instability is via traveling-wave mode. Besides, the value of Pr at which transition occurs from stationary to traveling-wave mode instability increases with decreasing Λ. The behavior of secondary flows is discussed in detail for values of physical parameters at which transition from stationary to traveling-wave mode takes place.


1968 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline M. Watson

This paper considers the problem of the stability of an infinite horizontal layer of a viscous fluid which loses heat throughout its volume at a constant rate. The variation of the critical Rayleigh number, Rt, and the cell aspect ratio, a, with the rate of heat loss, is calculated with two sets of boundary conditions corresponding to two free and two rigid boundaries. In both cases we find that, as the rate of heat loss increases, Rt decreases, showing that the layer becomes more unstable, and a increases, showing that the cells become narrower. We also consider the possibility that a double layer of cells is formed for large values of the rate of heat loss, by the stable layer at the top, and find that this does not occur while the temperature of the upper surface of the layer is less than that of the lower.


1993 ◽  
Vol 248 ◽  
pp. 583-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. F. Goldstein ◽  
E. Knobloch ◽  
I. Mercader ◽  
M. Net

The onset of convection in a uniformly rotating vertical cylinder of height h and radius d heated from below is studied. For non-zero azimuthal wavenumber the instability is a Hopf bifurcation regardless of the Prandtl number of the fluid, and leads to precessing spiral patterns. The patterns typically precess counter to the rotation direction. Two types of modes are distinguished: the fast modes with relatively high precession velocity whose amplitude peaks near the sidewall, and the slow modes whose amplitude peaks near the centre. For aspect ratios τ ≡ d/h of order one or less the fast modes always set in first as the Rayleigh number increases; for larger aspect ratios the slow modes are preferred provided that the rotation rate is sufficiently slow. The precession velocity of the slow modes vanishes as τ → ∞. Thus it is these modes which provide the connection between the results for a finite-aspect-ratio System and the unbounded layer in which the instability is a steady-state one, except in low Prandtl number fluids.The linear stability problem is solved for several different sets of boundary conditions, and the results compared with recent experiments. Results are presented for Prandtl numbers σ in the range 6.7 ≤ σ ≤ 7.0 as a function of both the rotation rate and the aspect ratio. The results for rigid walls, thermally conducting top and bottom and an insulating sidewall agree well with the measured critical Rayleigh numbers and precession frequencies for water in a τ = 1 cylinder. A conducting sidewall raises the critical Rayleigh number, while free-slip boundary conditions lower it. The difference between the critical Rayleigh numbers with no-slip and free-slip boundaries becomes small for dimensionless rotation rates Ωh2/v ≥ 200, where v is the kinematic viscosity.


1970 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Gill ◽  
C. C. Kirkham

The study of natural convection in a rectangular cavity whose side walls are maintained at different fixed temperatures can be regarded as one of the classical problems of thermal convection (see Batchelor 1954; Elder 1965 and Gill 1966). One aspect of this problem is the question of stability of the laminar flow solution for given values of the three governing parameters, the Rayleigh numberA= γgΔTL3/κν, the aspect ratioh=H/Land the Prandtl number σ = ν/κ. HereHis the height andLthe width of the cavity,Tis the temperature difference between the two walls andgthe acceleration due to gravity. The fluid filling the container has coefficient of expansion γ, thermal diffusivity κ and kinematic viscosity ν. Instead of studying the stability of the exact laminar flow solution, which is not a parallel flow, the stability of the following solution of the governing eauations is examined instead:


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. B. Naveen ◽  
B. M. Shankar ◽  
I. S. Shivakumara

Abstract The simultaneous effect of a time-dependent velocity term in the momentum equation and a maximum density property on the stability of natural convection in a vertical layer of Darcy porous medium is investigated. The density is assumed to vary quadratically with temperature and as a result, the basic velocity distribution becomes asymmetric. The problem has been analyzed separately with (case 1) and without (case 2) time-dependent velocity term. It is established that Gill's proof of linear stability effective for case 2 but found to be ineffective for case 1. Due to the lack of Gill's proof for case1, the stability eigenvalue problem is solved numerically and observed that the instability sets in always via traveling-wave mode when the Darcy–Prandtl number is not larger than 7.08. The neutral stability curves and isolines are presented for different governing parameters. The critical values of Darcy–Rayleigh number corresponding to quadratic density variation with respect to temperature, critical wave number, and the critical wave speed are computed for different values of governing parameters. It is found that the system becomes more stable with increasing Darcy–Rayleigh number corresponding to linear density variation with respect to temperature and the Darcy–Prandtl number.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pouya Amili ◽  
Yanis C. Yortsos

Abstract We study the linear stability of a two-phase heat pipe zone (vapor-liquid counterflow) in a porous medium, overlying a superheated vapor zone. The competing effects of gravity, condensation and heat transfer on the stability of a planar base state are analyzed in the linear stability limit. The rate of growth of unstable disturbances is expressed in terms of the wave number of the disturbance, and dimensionless numbers, such as the Rayleigh number, a dimensionless heat flux and other parameters. A critical Rayleigh number is identified and shown to be different than in natural convection under single phase conditions. The results find applications to geothermal systems, to enhanced oil recovery using steam injection, as well as to the conditions of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. This study complements recent work of the stability of boiling by Ramesh and Torrance (1993).


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Kohl ◽  
M. Kristoffersen ◽  
F. A. Kulacki

Experiments are reported on initial instability, turbulence, and overall heat transfer in a porous medium heated from below. The porous medium comprises either water or a water-glycerin solution and randomly stacked glass spheres in an insulated cylinder of height:diameter ratio of 1.9. Heating is with a constant flux lower surface and a constant temperature upper surface, and the stability criterion is determined for a step heat input. The critical Rayleigh number for the onset of convection is obtained in terms of a length scale normalized to the thermal penetration depth as Rac=83/(1.08η−0.08η2) for 0.02<η<0.18. Steady convection in terms of the Nusselt and Rayleigh numbers is Nu=0.047Ra0.91Pr0.11(μ/μ0)0.72 for 100<Ra<5000. Time-averaged temperatures suggest the existence of a unicellular axisymmetric flow dominated by upflow over the central region of the heated surface. When turbulence is present, the magnitude and frequency of temperature fluctuations increase weakly with increasing Rayleigh number. Analysis of temperature fluctuations in the fluid provides an estimate of the speed of the upward moving thermals, which decreases with distance from the heated surface.


1969 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 775-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Gill ◽  
A. Davey

A buoyancy-driven system can be unstable due to two different mechanisms—one mechanical and the other involving buoyancy forces. The mechanical instability is of the type normally studied in connexion with the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. The buoyancy-driven instability is rather different and is related to the ‘Coriolis’-driven instability of rotating fluids. In this paper, the stability of a buoyancy-driven system, recently called a ‘buoyancy layer’, is examined for the whole range of Prandtl numbers, s. The buoyancy-driven instability becomes increasingly important as the Prandtl number is increased and so particular interest is attached to the limit in which the Prandtl number tends to infinity. In this limit, the system is neutrally stable to first order, but second-order effects render the flow unstable at a Reynolds number of order σ-½. Consequences of the results for the stability of convection in a vertical slot are examined.


2012 ◽  
Vol 713 ◽  
pp. 216-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Hu ◽  
Daniel Henry ◽  
Xie-Yuan Yin ◽  
Hamda BenHadid

AbstractThree-dimensional Rayleigh–Bénard instabilities in binary fluids with Soret effect are studied by linear biglobal stability analysis. The fluid is confined transversally in a duct and a longitudinal throughflow may exist or not. A negative separation factor $\psi = \ensuremath{-} 0. 01$, giving rise to oscillatory transitions, has been considered. The numerical dispersion relation associated with this stability problem is obtained with a two-dimensional Chebyshev collocation method. Symmetry considerations are used in the analysis of the results, which allow the classification of the perturbation modes as ${S}_{l} $ modes (those which keep the left–right symmetry) or ${R}_{x} $ modes (those which keep the symmetry of rotation of $\lrm{\pi} $ about the longitudinal mid-axis). Without throughflow, four dominant pairs of travelling transverse modes with finite wavenumbers $k$ have been found. Each pair corresponds to two symmetry degenerate left and right travelling modes which have the same critical Rayleigh number ${\mathit{Ra}}_{c} $. With the increase of the duct aspect ratio $A$, the critical Rayleigh numbers for these four pairs of modes decrease and closely approach the critical value ${\mathit{Ra}}_{c} = 1743. 894$ obtained in a two-dimensional situation, one of the mode (a ${S}_{l} $ mode called mode A) always remaining the dominant mode. Oscillatory longitudinal instabilities ($k\approx 0$) corresponding to either ${S}_{l} $ or ${R}_{x} $ modes have also been found. Their critical curves, globally decreasing, present oscillatory variations when the duct aspect ratio $A$ is increased, associated with an increasing number of longitudinal rolls. When a throughflow is applied, the symmetry degeneracy of the pairs of travelling transverse modes is broken, giving distinct upstream and downstream modes. For small and moderate aspect ratios $A$, the overall critical Rayleigh number in the small Reynolds number range studied is only determined by the upstream transverse mode A. In contrast, for larger aspect ratios as $A= 7$, different modes are successively dominant as the Reynolds number is increased, involving both upstream and downstream transverse modes A and even the longitudinal mode.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Ramanathan ◽  
R. Kumar

This paper presents the numerical results of natural convective flows between two vertical, parallel plates within a large enclosure. A parametric study has been conducted for various Prandtl numbers and channel aspect ratios. The results are in good agreement with the reported results in the literature for air for large aspect ratios. However, for small aspect ratios, the present numerical results do not agree with the correlations given in the literature. The discrepancy is due to the fact that the published results were obtained for channels where the diffusion of thermal energy in the vertical direction is negligible. The results obtained in this paper indicate that vertical conduction should be considered for channel aspect ratios less than 10 for Pr = 0.7. Correlations are presented to predict the maximum temperature and the average Nusselt number on the plate as explicit functions of the channel Rayleigh number and the channel aspect ratio for air. The plate temperature is a weak function of Prandtl number for Prandtl numbers greater than 0.7, if the channel Rayleigh number is chosen as the correlating parameter. For Prandtl numbers less than 0.1, the plate temperature is a function of the channel Rayleigh number and the Prandtl number. A correlation for maximum temperature on the plate is presented to include the Prandtl number effect for large aspect ratio channels.


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