Two-layer Thermally Driven Turbulence: Mechanisms for Interface Breakup


Abstract in English

It is commonly accepted that the breakup criteria of drops or bubbles in turbulence is governed by surface tension and inertia. However, also {it{buoyancy}} can play an important role at breakup. In order to better understand this role, here we numerically study Rayleigh-Benard convection for two immiscible fluid layers, in order to identify the effects of buoyancy on interface breakup. We explore the parameter space spanned by the Weber number $5leq We leq 5000$ (the ratio of inertia to surface tension) and the density ratio between the two fluids $0.001 leq Lambda leq 1$, at fixed Rayleigh number $Ra=10^8$ and Prandtl number $Pr=1$. At low $We$, the interface undulates due to plumes. When $We$ is larger than a critical value, the interface eventually breaks up. Depending on $Lambda$, two breakup types are observed: The first type occurs at small $Lambda ll 1$ (e.g. air-water systems) when local filament thicknesses exceed the Hinze length scale. The second, strikingly different, type occurs at large $Lambda$ with roughly $0.5 < Lambda le 1$ (e.g. oil-water systems): The layers undergo a periodic overturning caused by buoyancy overwhelming surface tension. For both types the breakup criteria can be derived from force balance arguments and show good agreement with the numerical results.

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