In this numerical study on two-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard convection we consider $10^7 leq Ra leq 10^{12}$ in aspect ratio $0.23 leq Gamma leq 13$ samples. We focus on several cases. First we consider small aspect ratio cells, where at high Ra numbe
r we find a sharp transition from a low Ra number branch towards a high Ra number branch, due to changes in the flow structure. Subsequently, we show that the influence of the aspect ratio on the heat transport decreases with increasing aspect ratio, although even at very large aspect ratio of $Gammaapprox10$ variations up to 2.5% in the heat transport as a function of Gamma are observed. Finally, we observe long-lived transients up to at least $Ra=10^9$, as in certain aspect ratio cells we observe different flow states that are stable for thousands of turnover times.
We investigate the structures of the near-plate velocity and temperature profiles at different horizontal positions along the conducting bottom (and top) plate of a Rayleigh-B{e}nard convection cell, using two-dimensional (2D) numerical data obtained
at the Rayleigh number Ra=10^8 and the Prandtl number Pr=4.4 of an Oberbeck-Boussinesq flow with constant material parameters. The results show that most of the time, and for both velocity and temperature, the instantaneous profiles scaled by the dynamical frame method [Q. Zhou and K.-Q. Xia, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 104301 (2010) agree well with the classical Prandtl-Blasius laminar boundary layer (BL) profiles. Therefore, when averaging in the dynamical reference frames, which fluctuate with the respective instantaneous kinematic and thermal BL thicknesses, the obtained mean velocity and temperature profiles are also of Prandtl-Blasius type for nearly all horizontal positions. We further show that in certain situations the traditional definitions based on the time-averaged profiles can lead to unphysical BL thicknesses, while the dynamical method also in such cases can provide a well-defined BL thickness for both the kinematic and the thermal BLs.
We analyze the reversals of the large scale flow in Rayleigh-Benard convection both through particle image velocimetry flow visualization and direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the underlying Boussinesq equations in a (quasi) two-dimensional, rect
angular geometry of aspect ratio 1. For medium Prandtl number there is a diagonal large scale convection roll and two smaller secondary rolls in the two remaining corners diagonally opposing each other. These corner flow rolls play a crucial role for the large scale wind reversal: They grow in kinetic energy and thus also in size thanks to plume detachments from the boundary layers up to the time that they take over the main, large scale diagonal flow, thus leading to reversal. Based on this mechanism we identify a typical time scale for the reversals. We map out the Rayleigh number vs Prandtl number phase space and find that the occurrence of reversals very sensitively depends on these parameters.
Deformation-induced lateral migration of a bubble slowly rising near a vertical plane wall in a stagnant liquid is numerically and theoretically investigated. In particular, our focus is set on a situation with a small clearance $c$ between the bubbl
e interface and the wall. Motivated by the fact that experimentally measured migration velocity (Takemura et al. (2002, J. Fluid Mech. {bf 461}, 277)) is higher than the velocity estimated by the available analytical solution (Magnaudet et al. (2003, J. Fluid Mech. {bf 476}, 115)) using the Fax{e}n mirror image technique for $kappa(=a/(a+c))ll 1$ (here $a$ is the bubble radius), when the clearance parameter $epsilon(=c/a)$ is comparable to or smaller than unit, the numerical analysis based on the boundary-fitted finite-difference approach by solving the Stokes equation is performed to complement the experiment. To improve the understandings of a role of the squeezing flow within the bubble-wall gap, the theoretical analysis based on a soft-lubrication approach (Skotheim & Mahadevan (2004, Phys. Rev. Lett. {bf 92}, 245509)) is also performed. The present analyses demonstrate the migration velocity scales $propto{rm Ca} epsilon^{-1}V_{B1}$ (here, $V_{B1}$ and ${rm Ca}$ denote the rising velocity and the capillary number, respectively) in the limit of $epsilonto 0$.
A new simulation method for solving fluid-structure coupling problems has been developed. All the basic equations are numerically solved on a fixed Cartesian grid using a finite difference scheme. A volume-of-fluid formulation (Hirt and Nichols (1981
, J. Comput. Phys., 39, 201)), which has been widely used for multiphase flow simulations, is applied to describing the multi-component geometry. The temporal change in the solid deformation is described in the Eulerian frame by updating a left Cauchy-Green deformation tensor, which is used to express constitutive equations for nonlinear Mooney-Rivlin materials. In this paper, various verifications and validations of the present full Eulerian method, which solves the fluid and solid motions on a fixed grid, are demonstrated, and the numerical accuracy involved in the fluid-structure coupling problems is examined.
Deformation-induced lateral migration of a bubble slowly rising near a vertical plane wall in a stagnant liquid is numerically and theoretically investigated. In particular, our focus is set on a situation with a short clearance $c$ between the bubbl
e interface and the wall. Motivated by the fact that numerically and experimentally measured migration velocities are considerably higher than the velocity estimated by the available analytical solution using the Fax{e}n mirror image technique for $a/(a+c)ll 1$ (here $a$ is the bubble radius), when the clearance parameter $varepsilon(= c/a)$ is comparable to or smaller than unity, the numerical analysis based on the boundary-fitted finite-difference approach solving the Stokes equation is performed to complement the experiment. The migration velocity is found to be more affected by the high-order deformation modes with decreasing $varepsilon$. The numerical simulations are compared with a theoretical migration velocity obtained from a lubrication study of a nearly spherical drop, which describes the role of the squeezing flow within the bubble-wall gap. The numerical and lubrication analyses consistently demonstrate that when $varepsilonleq 1$, the lubrication effect makes the migration velocity asymptotically $mu V_{B1}^2/(25varepsilon gamma)$ (here, $V_{B1}$, $mu$, and $gamma$ denote the rising velocity, the dynamic viscosity of liquid, and the surface tension, respectively).
The shape of velocity and temperature profiles near the horizontal conducting plates in turbulent Rayleigh-B{e}nard convection are studied numerically and experimentally over the Rayleigh number range $10^8lesssim Ralesssim3times10^{11}$ and the Pran
dtl number range $0.7lesssim Prlesssim5.4$. The results show that both the temperature and velocity profiles well agree with the classical Prandtl-Blasius laminar boundary-layer profiles, if they are re-sampled in the respective dynamical reference frames that fluctuate with the instantaneous thermal and velocity boundary-layer thicknesses.
Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq (NOB) effects on the flow organization in two-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard turbulence are numerically analyzed. The working fluid is water. We focus on the temperature profiles, the center temperature, the Nusselt number, and o
n the analysis of the velocity field. Several velocity amplitudes (or Reynolds numbers) and several kinetic profiles are introduced and studied; these together describe the various features of the rather complex flow organization. The results are presented both as functions of the Rayleigh number Ra (with Ra up to 10^8) for fixed temperature difference (Delta) between top and bottom plates and as functions of Delta (non-Oberbeck-Boussinesqness) for fixed Ra with Delta up to 60 K. All results are consistent with the available experimental NOB data for the center temperature Tc and the Nusselt number ratio Nu_{NOB}/Nu_{OB} (the label OB meaning that the Oberbeck-Boussinesq conditions are valid). Beyond Ra ~ 10^6 the flow consists of a large diagonal center convection roll and two smaller rolls in the upper and lower corners. In the NOB case the center convection roll is still characterized by only one velocity scale.
We study the dynamics of periodic arrays of micrometer-sized liquid-gas menisci formed at superhydrophobic surfaces immersed into water. By measuring the intensity of optical diffraction peaks in real time we are able to resolve nanometer scale oscil
lations of the menisci with sub-microsecond time resolution. Upon driving the system with an ultrasound field at variable frequency we observe a pronounced resonance at a few hundred kHz, depending on the exact geometry. Modeling the system using the unsteady Stokes equation, we find that this low resonance frequency is caused by a collective mode of the acoustically coupled oscillating menisci.
We numerically analyze Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq (NOB) effects in two-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard flow in glycerol, which shows a dramatic change in the viscosity with temperature. The results are presented both as functions of the Rayleigh number (Ra)
up to $10^8$ (for fixed temperature difference between the top and bottom plates) and as functions of non-Oberbeck-Boussinesqness or NOBness ($Delta$) up to 50 K (for fixed Ra). For this large NOBness the center temperature $T_c$ is more than 5 K larger than the arithmetic mean temperature $T_m$ between top and bottom plate and only weakly depends on Ra. To physically account for the NOB deviations of the Nusselt numbers from its Oberbeck-Boussinesq values, we apply the decomposition of $Nu_{NOB}/Nu_{OB}$ into the product of two effects, namely first the change in the sum of the top and bottom thermal BL thicknesses, and second the shift of the center temperature $T_c$ as compared to $T_m$. While for water the origin of the $Nu$ deviation is totally dominated by the second effect (cf. Ahlers et al., J. Fluid Mech. 569, pp. 409 (2006)) for glycerol the first effect is dominating, in spite of the large increase of $T_c$ as compared to $T_m$.
