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Secondary flows in a laterally heated horizontal cylinder.

Authors :
Mercader, Isabel
Sánchez, Odalys
Batiste, Oriol
Source :
Physics of Fluids. Jan2014, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p1-21. 21p. 14 Diagrams, 1 Chart, 5 Graphs.
Publication Year :
2014

Abstract

In this paper we study the problem of thermal convection in a laterally heated, finite, horizontal cylinder. We consider cylinders of moderate aspect ratio (height/diameter 2) containing a small Prandtl number fluid (s < 0.026) typical of molten metals and molten semiconductors. We use the Navier-Stokes and energy equations in the Boussinesq approximation to calculate numerically the basic steady states, analyze their linear stability, and compute some nonlinear secondary flows originated from the instabilities. All the calculated flows and the stability analysis are characterized by their symmetry properties. Due to the confined cylindrical geometry, -presence of lateral walls and lids-, all the flows are completely three dimensional even for the basic steady states. In the range of Prandtl numbers studied, we have identified four different types of instabilities, either oscillatory or stationary. The physical mechanisms, shear or buoyancy, of the corresponding flow transitions have been analyzed. As the value of the Prandtl number approaches s = 0.026 the scenario of bifurcations becomes more complicated due to the existence of two different stable basic states originated in a saddle-node bifurcation; a fact that had been overlooked in previous works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
10706631
Volume :
26
Issue :
1
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Physics of Fluids
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
94315400
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4856615