Numerical prediction of turbulent thermocapillary convection in superposed fluid layers with a free interface

The present paper introduces a new numerical method for predicting the characteristics of thermocapillary turbulent convection in a differentially-heated rectangular cavity with two superposed and immiscible fluid layers. The unsteady Reynolds form of the Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation are solved by using the control volume approach on a staggered grid system using SIMPLE algorithm. The turbulence quantities are predicted by applying the standard k–ε turbulence model. The level set formulation is applied for predicting the topological changes of the interface separating the two fluid layers and to provide an accurate and robust modeling of the interfacial normal and tangential stresses. The computational results obtained showed good agreement when compared with the previous experimental, numerical and analytical benchmark data for different validation cases in both laminar and turbulent regimes. The present numerical method is then applied to predict the velocity and temperature distribution in two immiscible liquid layers with undeformable interface for a wide range of Marangoni numbers. The laminar-turbulent transition is demonstrated by obtaining the turbulence features at high interfacial temperature gradient which is characterized by high Marangoni number. The effect of increasing Marangoni number on the interface dynamics in turbulent regime is also investigated.     

Marangoni convection in weld pools with a free surface

A steady-state two-dimensional model of heat transfer and fluid flow was developed to describe Marangoni convection in the weld pool. Both the pool surface and the fusion boundary were calculated. The validity of the model was verified against an asymptotic solution for Marangoni-convection-induced free surface geometry. Two different cases were studied, i.e. a negative surface tension temperature coefficient ?γ/?T a positive one, and the resultant shapes of the weld pool surface were compared.     

Time-dependent liquid metal flows with free convection and a deformable free surface

The finite element method is employed to investigate time-dependent liquid metal flows with free convection, free surfaces and Marangoni effects. The liquid circulates in a two-dimensional shallow trough with differentially heated vertical walls. The spatial formulation incorporates mixed Lagrangian approximations to the velocity, pressure, temperature and free surface position. The time integration is performed with the backward Euler and trapezoid rule methods with step size control. The Galerkin method is used to reduce the problem to a set of non-linear equations which are solved with the Newton–Raphson method. Calculations are performed for conditions relevant to the electron beam vaporization of refractory metals. The Prandtl number is 0·015 and Grashof number are in the transition range between laminar and turbulent flow. The results reveal the effects of flow intensity, surface tension gradients, mesh refinement and time integration strategy.     

LES-based filter-matrix lattice Boltzmann model for simulating turbulent natural convection in a square cavity

In this paper, a novel thermal filter-matrix lattice Boltzmann model based on large eddy simulation (LES) is proposed for simulating turbulent natural convection. In this study, the Vreman subgrid-scale eddy-viscosity model is introduced into the present framework of LES to accurately predict the flow in near-wall region. Two dimensional numerical simulations of natural convection in a square cavity were performed at high Rayleigh number varying from 10⁷ to 10¹⁰ with a fixed Prandtl number of Pr = 0.71. The influences of the higher-order terms upon the present results at high Rayleigh numbers are examined, taking Ra = 10⁷ and 10⁸ as the example, revealing that the proper minimization of the higher-order terms can improve numerical accuracy of present model for high Rayleigh convective flow. For the turbulent convective flow, the time-averaged quantities in the median lines are presented and compared against those available results from previous studies. The general structure of turbulent boundary layers is well predicted. All numerical results exhibit good agreement with the benchmark solutions available in the previous literatures.     

Natural convection in a cavity with time-dependent flux boundary

Numerical simulations have been carried out to investigate the unsteady natural convection flow in a cavity subjected to a sidewall heat flux varying sinusoidally with time. With all walls non-slip and the upper and lower boundaries and the other sidewall adiabatic, the heating and cooling produces an alternating direction natural convection boundary layer that discharges hot fluid to the top and cold fluid to the bottom of the cavity, generating a time-varying thermal stratification in the cavity interior. Scaling analysis has been conducted for different flow regimes based on the forcing frequency, with the characteristic time scales being the forcing period and the boundary layer development time. The scaling relations are then verified using the simulations, with the results showing overall good agreement with the derived scaling relations.     

液层厚度对浮力-热毛细对流面型的影响

将Michelson光学干涉测量系统与图像处理技术相结合，发展形成一种实时诊断热毛细对流和浮力对流流体表面形貌的实验测量系统. 采用光学干涉测量方法研究了两端带有温差的矩形池内薄层流体的对流、表面变形、以及表面波的基本问题. 应用Fourier变换方法对实验结果进行计算和分析，得到了流体表面变形和表面波的定量的实验结果. 实验结果表明了在浮力-热毛细对流的发展过程中，首先出现流体的表面变形，之后在该变形的基础上，叠加了一个表面波的信息，该表面变形和表面波与流体的温度梯度、表面张力、以及浮力有直接的关系；表面波隐藏在表面变形内.     

Two bifurcation transition processes in floating half zone convection of larger Prandtl number fluid

Processes of the onset oscillation in the thermocapillary convection under the Earth's gravity are investigated by the numerical simulation and experiments in a floating half zone of large Prandtl number with different volume ratio. Both computational and experimental results show that the steady and axisymmetric convection turns to the oscillatory convection ofm=1 for the slender liquid bridge, and to the oscillatory convection before a steady and 3D asymmetric state for the case of a fat liquid bridge. It implies that, there are two critical Marangoni numbers related, respectively, to these two bifurcation transitions for the fat liquid bridge. The computational results agree with the results of ground-based experiments. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19789201) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (95-yu-34)     

Numerical prediction of turbulent flow over a two-dimensional ridge

Predictions are presented of the two-dimensional turbulent flow over a triangular ridge. The time-averaged Reynolds equations are written in an orthogonal curvilinear co-ordinate system and transformed to finite difference form after discretization in physical space. Turbulence is simulated by the two-equation κ-ε model of turbulence. In the first part of the paper the basics of the numerical method are presented and in the second part comparisons are made between predictions and available laboratory data. Therefore the validity and reliability of the method as well as its flexibility in treating complex recirculating flows are assessed. Results of engineering significance are presented of the effect of the ridge slope on the length of the recirculation region and on the overspeed factor on top of the ridge.     

Linear stability of solutal convection in solidifying mushy layers: permeable mush–melt interface

The linear stability theory is used to investigate analytically the effect of a permeable mush–melt boundary condition on the stability of solutal convection in a mushy layer of homogenous permeability at the near eutectic (solid) limit. The results clearly show that, in contrast to the impermeable mush–melt interface boundary condition, the application of the permeable mush–melt interface boundary condition destabilizes the convection in a mushy layer.     

Numerical modeling of thermocapillary convection in a fluid layer with local heating of the free surface

Thermocapillary convection in a plane horizontal fluid layer with concentrated heating of the free surface is modeled numerically using the Navier-Stokes equations and the heat transport equation. This makes it possible to examine the structure of the convection throughout the fluid volume, in particular in the region where the motion is weak. The deformation of the free surface is assumed to be negligibly small. In the case of a ponderable fluid this assumption is justified given certain upper and lower constraints on the temperature difference and the thickness of the layer, respectively, [9, 10]. Under conditions of weightlessness a fluid layer of constant thickness in a rectangular channel can be realized at a contact angle of 90° [7].Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 108–113, July–August, 1987.     

Adjoint approach of the spatial sensitivity to disturbances of internal flows with free surface

A local adjoint technique is developed in order to determine the most sensitive location to perturbations of steady states near bifurcation points in the case of confined flows with free‐surface boundary. Transitions to stationary or periodic flows are studied. The method is validated by comparison of its results with those given by a time approach. It is then applied to the stability study and the feedback control of thermocapillary flows in liquid bridge. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of variable viscosity on non-Darcy free or mixed convection flow on a vertical surface in a fluid saturated porous medium

This paper analyzes the variable viscosity effects on non-Darcy free or mixed convection flow on a vertical surface in a fluid saturated porous medium. The viscosity of the fluid is assumed to be a inverse linear function of temperature. Velocity and heat transfer are found to be significantly affected by the variable viscosity parameter, Ergun number, Peclet number or Rayleigh number.     

Bifurcation of thermocapillary convection in a shallow annular pool of silicon melt

In order to understand the nature of surface patterns on silicon melts in industrial Czochralski furnaces, we conducted a series of unsteady three-dimensional numerical simulations of thermocapillary convections in thin silicon melt pools in an annular container. The pool is heated from the outer cylindrical wall and cooled at the inner wall. Bottom and top surfaces are adiabatic. The results show that the flow is steady and axisymmetric at small temperature difference in the radial direction. When the temperature difference exceeds a certain threshold value, hydrothermal waves appear and bifurcation occurs. In this case, the flow is unsteady and there are two possible groups of hydrothermal waves with different number of waves, which are characterized by spoke patterns traveling in the clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. Details of the flow and temperature disturbances are discussed and number of waves and traveling velocity of the hydrothermal wave are determined. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (50476042) and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, Ministry of Education of China. The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Heat transfer enhancement in a turbulent natural convection boundary layer along a vertical flat plate

An experimental study on heat transfer enhancement for a turbulent natural convection boundary layer in air along a vertical flat plate has been performed by inserting a long flat plate in the spanwise direction (simple heat transfer promoter) and short flat plates aligned in the spanwise direction (split heat transfer promoter) with clearances into the near-wall region of the boundary layer. For a simple heat transfer promoter, the heat transfer coefficients increase by a peak value of approximately 37% in the downstream region of the promoter compared with those in the usual turbulent natural convection boundary layer. It is found from flow visualization and simultaneous measurements of the flow and thermal fields with hot- and cold-wires that such increase of heat transfer coefficients is mainly caused by the deflection of flows toward the outer region of the boundary layer and the invasion of low-temperature fluids from the outer region to the near-wall region with large-scale vortex motions riding out the promoter. However, heat transfer coefficients for a split heat transfer promoter exhibit an increase in peak value of approximately 60% in the downstream region of the promoter. Flow visualization and PIV measurements show that such remarkable heat transfer enhancement is attributed to longitudinal vortices generated by flows passing through the clearances of the promoter in addition to large-scale vortex motions riding out the promoter. Consequently, it is concluded that heat transfer enhancement of the turbulent natural convection boundary layer can be substantially achieved in a wide area of the turbulent natural convection boundary layer by employing multiple column split heat transfer promoters. It may be expected that the heat transfer enhancement in excess of approximately 40% can be accomplished by inserting such promoters.     

Effects of anisotropy on the free convection from a vertical plate embedded in a porous medium

The effects of anisotropy on the steady laminar boundary-layer free convection over a vertical impermeable surface are analysed by using the method of integral relations. If the permeability in the direction orthogonal to the plate is greater than the permeability along the plate, then there is an increase in the temperature field.     

Numerical simulation of laminar natural convection in a laterally heated vertical cylindrical enclosure: application to crystal growth

Laminar natural convection has been studied in a laterally heated vertical cylindrical enclosure with a free insulated surface and a centrally located constant temperature wall at the top. These conditions are a simplification of the conditions existing in a Czochralski crystal pulling system. The laminar, axisymmetric flow of a Newtonian, constant physical properties fluid under Boussinesq’s approximation has been considered. Governing equations in primitive variable form are solved numerically by control volume method. SIMPLE algorithm due to Patankar has been used for the numerical simulation. The effects of the constant wall heat flux boundary condition at the side wall have been investigated whereas the bottom wall is considered to be insulated. Streamlines and isotherms are presented for various Rayleigh numbers and Prandtl numbers. Heat flux vectors through the melt are plotted for selected cases. The axial velocity and temperature variations at different horizontal sections of the crucible have been presented graphically to explain the transport processes inside the crucible. It has been observed that in case of low Pr and high Ra, flow separation occurs at the vertical wall of the crucible which leads to an oscillatory flow as Ra increases. The investigation has been extended to the oscillatory regime of flow in the zone of supercritical Rayleigh numbers and some unsteady results are also presented. Finally a heat transfer correlation has been developed for steady-state case.     

Unsteady MHD mixed convection flow over an impulsively stretched permeable vertical surface in a quiescent fluid

The unsteady mixed convection flow of an incompressible laminar electrically conducting fluid over an impulsively stretched permeable vertical surface in an unbounded quiescent fluid in the presence of a transverse magnetic field has been investigated. At the same time, the surface temperature is suddenly increased from the surrounding fluid temperature or a constant heat flux is suddenly imposed on the surface. The problem is formulated in such a way that for small time it is governed by Rayleigh type of equation and for large time by Crane type of equation. The non-linear coupled parabolic partial differential equations governing the unsteady mixed convection flow under boundary layer approximations have been solved analytically by using the homotopy analysis method as well as numerically by an implicit finite difference scheme. The local skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number are found to decrease rapidly with time in a small time interval and they tend to steady-state values for t*≥5. They also increase with the buoyancy force and suction, but decrease with injection rate. The local skin friction coefficient increases with the magnetic field, but the local Nusselt number decreases. There is a smooth transition from the unsteady state to the steady state.