Thermal Instability of a Fluid-Saturated Porous Medium Bounded by Thin Fluid Layers

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 677-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Pillatsis ◽  
M. E. Taslim ◽  
U. Narusawa

A linear stability analysis is performed for a horizontal Darcy porous layer of depth 2dm sandwiched between two fluid layers of depth d (each) with the top and bottom boundaries being dynamically free and kept at fixed temperatures. The Beavers–Joseph condition is employed as one of the interfacial boundary conditions between the fluid and the porous layer. The critical Rayleigh number and the horizontal wave number for the onset of convective motion depend on the following four nondimensional parameters: dˆ ( = dm/d, the depth ratio), δ ( = K/dm with K being the permeability of the porous medium), α (the proportionality constant in the Beavers–Joseph condition), and k/km (the thermal conductivity ratio). In order to analyze the effect of these parameters on the stability condition, a set of numerical solutions is obtained in terms of a convergent series for the respective layers, for the case in which the thickness of the porous layer is much greater than that of the fluid layer. A comparison of this study with the previously obtained exact solution for the case of constant heat flux boundaries is made to illustrate quantitative effects of the interfacial and the top/bottom boundaries on the thermal instability of a combined system of porous and fluid layers.

1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Taslim ◽  
U. Narusawa

The results of stability analyses for the onset of convective motion are reported for the following three horizontally superposed systems of porous and fluid layers: (a) a porous layer sandwiched between two fluid layers with rigid top and bottom boundaries, (b) a fluid layer overlying a layer of porous medium, and (c) a fluid layer sandwiched between two porous layers. By changing the depth ratio dˆ from zero to infinity, a set of stability criteria (i.e., the critical Rayleigh number Rac and the critical wave number ac) is obtained, ranging from the case of a fluid layer between two rigid boundaries to the case of a porous layer between two impermeable boundaries. The effects of k/km (the thermal conductivity ratio), δ (the square root of the Darcy number), and α (the nondimensional proportionality constant in the slip condition) on Rac and ac are also examined in detail. The results in this paper, combined with those reported previously for Case (a) (Pillatsis et al., 1987), will provide a comprehensive picture of the interaction between a porous and a fluid layer.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (7) ◽  
pp. 835-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. S. Bhadauria

Thermal instability in an electrically conducting fluid saturated porous medium, confined between two horizontal walls, has been investigated in the presence of an applied vertical magnetic field and rotation, using the Brinkman model. The temperature gradient between the walls of the fluid layer consists of a steady part and a time-dependent oscillatory part. Only infinitesimal disturbances are considered. The combined effect of permeability, rotation, vertical magnetic field, and temperature modulation has been investigated using Galerkin’s method and Floquet theory. The value of the critical Rayleigh number is calculated as function of amplitude and frequency of modulation, Chandrasekhar number, Taylor number, porous parameter, Prandtl number, and magnetic Prandtl number. It is found that rotation, magnetic field, and porous medium all have a stabilizing influence on the onset of thermal instability. Further, it is also found that it is possible to advance or delay the onset of convection by proper tuning of the frequency of modulation of the walls’ temperature. In addition the results corresponding to the Brinkman model and Darcy model have been compared for neutral instability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-189
Author(s):  
Jyoti Prakash ◽  
Pankaj Kumar ◽  
Kultaran Kumari ◽  
Shweta Manan

AbstractThe effect of magnetic-field-dependent (MFD) viscosity on the thermal convection in a ferromagnetic fluid in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field is investigated for a fluid layer saturating a densely packed porous medium using the Darcy model. A correction is applied to the model by Sunil et al. [Z. Naturforsch. 59, 397 (2004)], which is very important to predict the correct behaviour of MFD viscosity. A linear stability analysis is carried out for stationary modes. The critical wave number and critical Rayleigh number for the onset of instability, for the case of free boundaries, are determined numerically for sufficiently large values of the magnetic parameter M1. Numerical results are obtained and illustrated graphically. It is shown that MFD viscosity has stabilizing effect on the system, whereas medium permeability has a destabilizing effect.


1969 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Wooding

Waves at an unstable horizontal interface between two fluids moving vertically through a saturated porous medium are observed to grow rapidly to become fingers (i.e. the amplitude greatly exceeds the wavelength). For a diffusing interface, in experiments using a Hele-Shaw cell, the mean amplitude taken over many fingers grows approximately as (time)2, followed by a transition to a growth proportional to time. Correspondingly, the mean wave-number decreases approximately as (time)−½. Because of the rapid increase in amplitude, longitudinal dispersion ultimately becomes negligible relative to wave growth. To represent the observed quantities at large time, the transport equation is suitably weighted and averaged over the horizontal plane. Hyperbolic equations result, and the ascending and descending zones containing the fronts of the fingers are replaced by discontinuities. These averaged equations form an unclosed set, but closure is achieved by assuming a law for the mean wave-number based on similarity. It is found that the mean amplitude is fairly insensitive to changes in wave-number. Numerical solutions of the averaged equations give more detailed information about the growth behaviour, in excellent agreement with the similarity results and with the Hele-Shaw experiments.


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.


1989 ◽  
Vol 207 ◽  
pp. 311-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falin Chen ◽  
C. F. Chen

Experiments have been carried out in a horizontal superposed fluid and porous layer contained in a test box 24 cm × 12 cm × 4 cm high. The porous layer consisted of 3 mm diameter glass beads, and the fluids used were water, 60% and 90% glycerin-water solutions, and 100% glycerin. The depth ratio ď, which is the ratio of the thickness of the fluid layer to that of the porous layer, varied from 0 to 1.0. Fluids of increasingly higher viscosity were used for cases with larger ď in order to keep the temperature difference across the tank within reasonable limits. The top and bottom walls were kept at different constant temperatures. Onset of convection was detected by a change of slope in the heat flux curve. The size of the convection cells was inferred from temperature measurements made with embedded thermocouples and from temperature distributions at the top of the layer by use of liquid crystal film. The experimental results showed (i) a precipitous decrease in the critical Rayleigh number as the depth of the fluid layer was increased from zero, and (ii) an eightfold decrease in the critical wavelength between ď = 0.1 and 0.2. Both of these results were predicted by the linear stability theory reported earlier (Chen & Chen 1988).


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Nield ◽  
A. V. Kuznetsov

The model developed in our previous paper (Nield and Kuznetsov, 2011, “The Effect of Vertical Throughflow on Thermal Instability in a Porous Medium Layer Saturated by a Nanofluid,” Transp. Porous Media, 87(3), pp. 765–775) is now revised to accommodate a more realistic boundary condition on the nanoparticle volume fraction. The new boundary condition postulates zero nanoparticle flux through the boundaries. We established that in the new model, oscillatory instability is impossible. We also established that the critical Rayleigh number depends on three dimensionless parameters, and we derived these three parameters from the governing equations. We also briefly investigated the major trends.


2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (6) ◽  
pp. 648-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Yim Min ◽  
Sung Jin Kim

An innovative methodology is presented for the purpose of analyzing fluid flow and heat transfer in a porous–fluid composite system, where the porous medium is assumed to have a periodic structure, i.e., solid and fluid phases repeat themselves in a regular pattern. With the present method, analytical solutions for the velocity and temperature distributions are obtained when the distributions in the adjacent fluid layer are allowed to vary in the directions both parallel and perpendicular to the interface between the porous medium and the adjacent fluid layer. The analytical solutions are validated by comparing them with the corresponding numerical solutions for the case of the ideal composite channel, and with existing experimental data. The present analytical solutions have a distinctive advantage in that they do not involve any unknown coefficients resulting from the previous interfacial conditions. Moreover, by comparing interfacial conditions derived from the present study with the stress- and flux-jump conditions developed by previous investigators, the unknown coefficients included in the stress- and flux-jump conditions are analytically determined and are shown to depend on the porosity, the Darcy number and the pore diameter.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 899-910 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S. Swamy

Abstract In the present work the linear stability analysis of double diffusive convection in a binary fluid layer is performed. The major intention of this study is to investigate the influence of time-periodic vertical vibrations on the onset threshold. A regular perturbation method is used to compute the critical Rayleigh number and wave number. A closed form expression for the shift in the critical Rayleigh number is calculated as a function of frequency of modulation, the solute Rayleigh number, Lewis number, and Prandtl number. These parameters are found to have a significant influence on the onset criterion; therefore the effective control of convection is achieved by proper tuning of these parameters. Vertical vibrations are found to enhance the stability of a binary fluid layer heated and salted from below. The results of this study are useful in the areas of crystal growth in micro-gravity conditions and also in material processing industries where vertical vibrations are involved


Author(s):  
Saneshan Govender

In both pure fluids and porous media, the density gradient becomes unstable and fluid motion (convection) occurs when the critical Rayleigh number is exceeded. The classical stability analysis no longer applies if the Rayleigh number is time dependant, as found in systems where the density gradient is subjected to vibration. The influence of vibrations on thermal convection depends on the orientation of the time dependant acceleration with respect to the thermal stratification. The problem of a vibrating porous cylinder has numerous important engineering applications, the most important one being in the field of binary alloy solidification. In particular we may extend the above results to understanding the dynamics in the mushy layer (essentially a reactive porous medium) that is sandwiched between the underlying solid and overlying melt regions. Alloyed components are widely used in demanding and critical applications, such as turbine blades, and a consistent internal structure is paramount to the performance and integrity of the component. Alloys are susceptible to the formation of vertical channels which are a direct result of the presence convection, so any technique that suppresses convection/the formation of channels would be welcomed by the plant metallurgical engineer. In the current study, the linear stability theory is used to investigate analytically the effects of gravity modulation on convection in a homogeneous cylindrical porous layer heated from below. The linear stability results show that increasing the frequency of vibration stabilizes the convection. In addition the aspect ratio of the porous cylinder is shown to influence the stability of convection for all frequencies analysed. It was also observed that only synchronous solutions are possible in cylindrical porous layers, with no transition to sub harmonic solutions as was the case in Govender (2005a) for rectangular layers or cavities. The results of the current analysis will be used in the formulation of a model for binary alloy systems that includes the reactive porous medium model.


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