Conditional and unconditional nonlinear stability for convection induced by absorption of radiation in a porous medium

Convection induced by the selective absorption of radiation is investigated, for the case of an internal heat source that is modelled quadratically with respect to concentration. The growth rate for the linearised system is shown to be real, and a linear instability analysis is performed. To establish conditional and unconditional nonlinear stability results, both the Darcy and Forchheimer models are employed to describe fluid flow. Due to the presence of significant regions of potential subcritical instabilities, the results indicate that linear theory may only be accurate enough to predict the onset of convective motion when the model for the internal heat source is predominantly linear.Received: 6 May 2003, Accepted: 9 August 2003, Published online: 12 December 2003     

Unconditional nonlinear exponential stability of the motionless conduction-diffusion solution

Nonlinear stability of the motionless state of a heterogeneous fluid with constant temperature-gradient and concentration-gradient is studied for both cases of stress-free and rigid boundary conditions. By introducing new energy functionals we have shown that for τ=P _C /P _T ≤1, the motionless state is always stable and for τ≤1, the sufficient and necessary conditions for stability coincide, whereP _C ,P _T ,C andR are the Schmidt number, Prandtl number, Rayleigh number for solute and heat respectively. Moreover, the criteria guarantees the exponential stability. The Project supported by SRF for ROCS, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and the National Basic Research Project “Nonlinear Science”     

Instability threshold of a model for deep convection with depth-dependent viscosity

The effect of depth-dependent viscosity on the onset of convection in deep horizontal layers heated from below is investigated. In the Zeytounian deep convection model (1989), the depth-dependent viscosity is introduced. The instability threshold of the thermal conduction rest state, is evaluated (in the free-free case). It is obtained that: (1) the strong principle of exchange of stability holds; (2) the instability threshold depends – via a simple closed form (1.1) – on the viscosity law; (3) a fall in the instability threshold is driven by the depth-dependent viscosity. The action of (quadratic) polynomial and exponential depth-dependent viscosity on the instability threshold is evaluated. Although needs to be verified by experiments, the results obtained appear to be of interest not only for theoreticians but also for experimentalists.     

A direct boundary-layer stability analysis of steady-state cavity convection flow

Natural convection flow in cavities with insulated top and bottom and heated and cooled walls is known to exhibit travelling wave instabilities in the thermal boundary layers that form on the walls. In water (Pr = 7.5) at Rayleigh number Ra = 6 × 10⁸, these waves have been observed at start-up. However no such waves have been observed for the fully developed flow, although it may be assumed that the stability character of the boundary layers is at least approximately the same. The start-up waves are generated by perturbations to the system. In the present paper, an artificial perturbation is applied to the system to determine the stability character of the boundary layers in fully developed flow. It is shown that the thermal boundary layers in the fully developed flow have approximately the same stability character as the start-up flow.     

Fluid convection in a rotating porous layer under modulated temperature on the boundaries

The linear stability of thermal convection in a rotating horizontal layer of fluid-saturated porous medium, confined between two rigid boundaries, is studied for temperature modulation, using Brinkman’s model. In addition to a steady temperature difference between the walls of the porous layer, a time-dependent periodic perturbation is applied to the wall temperatures. Only infinitesimal disturbances are considered. The combined effect of rotation, permeability and modulation of walls’ temperature on the stability of flow through porous medium has been investigated using Galerkin method and Floquet theory. The critical Rayleigh number is calculated as function of amplitude and frequency of modulation, Taylor number, porous parameter and Prandtl number. It is found that both, rotation and permeability are having 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.     

Bifurcation analysis for thermal convection in a rotating porous layer

The linear and weakly nonlinear thermal convection in a rotating porous layer is investigated by constructing a simplified model involving a system of fifth-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The flow in the porous medium is described by Lap wood-Brinkman-extended Darcy model with fluid viscosity different from effective viscosity. Conditions for the occurrence of possible bifurcations are obtained. It is established that Hopf bifurcation is possible only at a lower value of the Rayleigh number than that of simple bifurcation. In contrast to the non-rotating case, it is found that the ratio of viscosities as well as the Darcy number plays a dual role on the steady onset and some important observations are made on the stability characteristics of the system. The results obtained from weakly nonlinear theory reveal that, the steady bifurcating solution may be either sub-critical or supercritical depending on the choice of physical parameters. Heat transfer is calculated in terms of Nusselt number.     

多孔介质中二维对流传热的分叉

本文利用分叉理论研究了流体饱和的二维多孔介质从底部加热所引起的自然对流,用有限差分方法确定对流的分叉进程;揭示其模式转换机理及分叉对非正常流动图象形成的影响;同时确定了矩形截面宽高比与临界端利数的关系。还提出了一个判别分支稳定笥的简明方法。     

Weakly nonlinear stability analysis of triple diffusive convection in a Maxwell fluid saturated porous layer

The weakly nonlinear stability of the triple diffusive convection in a Maxwell fluid saturated porous layer is investigated. In some cases, disconnected oscillatory neutral curves are found to exist, indicating that three critical thermal Darcy-Rayleigh numbers are required to specify the linear instability criteria. However, another distinguishing feature predicted from that of Newtonian fluids is the impossibility of quasi-periodic bifurcation from the rest state. Besides, the co-dimensional two bifurcation points are located in the Darcy-Prandtl number and the stress relaxation parameter plane. It is observed that the value of the stress relaxation parameter defining the crossover between stationary and oscillatory bifurcations decreases when the Darcy-Prandtl number increases. A cubic Landau equation is derived based on the weakly nonlinear stability analysis. It is found that the bifurcating oscillatory solution is either supercritical or subcritical, depending on the choice of the physical parameters. Heat and mass transfers are estimated in terms of time and area-averaged Nusselt numbers.     

Effect of modulation on onset of thermal convection of a second-grade fluid layer

This study examines the stability of a horizontally extended second-grade fluid layer heated from below, when a steady temperature difference between the walls is superimposed on sinusoidal temperature perturbations. A linear stability analysis proposed by Venezian (J. Fluid Mech. 35 (1969) 243) is employed to obtain the critical Rayleigh numbers for different types of temperature modulation. The free–free and isothermal boundary conditions are considered so as to allow analytic solutions. The stability characterized by the shift in critical Rayleigh number R_2c is calculated as a function of the modulation frequency ω, the Prandtl number Pr, and the viscoelastic parameter Q. It is found that the onset of convection can be delayed or advanced by these parameters.     

Onset of Benard-Marangoni convection in a rotating liquid layer with nonuniform volumetric energy sources

The criteria for the onset of natural convection in a rotating liquid layer with nonuniform volumetric energy sources from absorbed thermal radiation are determined via linear stability analysis. The linearized perturbation equations are solved by using a numerical technique to obtain the eigenvalues that governs the onset of convection in a microgravity environment. The stability criteria are obtained in terms of the Marangoni number as function of the optical thickness. The influences of the Rayleigh number, Taylor number, Bond number, Crispation number, and Biot number on convection are examined in detail. These parameters provide a relationship between the critical Marangoni number and the Coriolis force, the buoyancy force, the interfacial tension, and the heat transport mechanisms.     

最大偏心圆环空间自然对流传热的数值分析

采用正切圆坐标变换 ,对不同直径比以及上、下、侧面三种偏心位置 ,偏心率达到最大值± 1的变壁温水平圆柱环形封闭空间内空气的自然对流传热进行了数学模拟 ,求出的二维空间温度分布与实验拍摄相应的温度干涉条纹图片吻合良好。计算结果同时给出流线分布及内、外壁面的局部传热系数、热流量。并与现有的偏心率小于 1的有关资料作对比分析。数值计算的范围是 :2 .0× 1 0 2 ≤ Ra≤ 3 .0× 1 0 5,1 .3≤ Do/Di≤ 3 .8,Pr=0 .70 6,|ε|=1 .     

Natural convection from a vertical cylinder in a thermally stratified porous medium

The problem of non-Darcy natural convection adjacent to a vertical cylinder embedded in a thermally stratified porous medium has been analyzed. Nonsimilarity solutions are obtained for the case that the ambient temperature increases linearly with height of the cylinder. A generalized flow model was used in the present study to include the effects of the macroscopic viscous term and the microscopic inertial force. Also, the thermal dispersion effect is considered in the energy equation. Thus, the main aim of this work is to examine the effects of thermal stratification and non-Darcy flow phenomena on the free convection flow and heat transfer characteristics. It was found that the present problem depends on six parameters, namely, the local thermal stratification parameter ξ, the boundary effect parameter Bp, the modified Grashof number Gr^*, wall temperature exponent m, the curvature parameter ω, and the modified Rayleigh number based on pore diameter Ra _d . The impacts of these governing parameters on the local heat transfer parameter are discussed in great detail. Also, representative velocity and temperature profiles are presented at selected values of the thermal stratification parameter. In general, the local heat transfer parameter is increased with increasing the values of m, ω, and Ra _d ; while it is decreased with increasing the values of ξ, Bp, and Gr^*. Received on 19 May 1998     

Magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection in a vertical channel

The problem of combined free and forced convective magnetohydrodynamic flow in a vertical channel is analysed by taking into account the effect of viscous and ohmic dissipations. The channel walls are maintained at equal or at different constant temperatures. The velocity field and the temperature field are obtained analytically by perturbation series method and numerically by finite difference technique. The results are presented for various values of the Brinkman number and the ratio of Grashof number to the Reynolds number for both equal and different wall temperatures. Nusselt number at the walls is determined. It is found that the viscous dissipation enhances the flow reversal in the case of downward flow while it counters the flow in the case of upward flow. It is also found that the analytical and numerical solutions agree very well for small values of ε.     

Global nonlinear stability for a triply diffusive convection in a porous layer

A triply convective-diffusive fluid mixture saturating a porous horizontal layer in the Darcy–Oberbeck–Boussinesq scheme is studied. The nonlinear stability analysis of the conduction solution is performed when the layer is heated from below and salted from above by one salt and below by another salt. Denoting by P _i , (i = 1, 2), the salts Prandtl numbers, it is shown that in the cases {P ₁ = 1; P ₂ = 1; P ₁ = P ₂} do not exist subcritical instabilities and the thermal Rayleigh critical number of global stability in a simple closed form is given. The methodology used and the results obtained appear to be new in the existing literature and useful for the applications.     

Effect of anisotropy of porous media on the onset of buoyancy-driven convection

A theoretical analysis of buoyancy-driven instability under transient basic fields is conducted in an initially quiescent, fluid-saturated, horizontal porous layer. Darcy’s law is used to explain characteristics of fluid motion and the anisotropy of permeability is considered. Under the Boussinesq approximation and the principle of exchange of stabilities, the stability equations are derived by using the linear stability theory and the energy method. The linear stability equations are analyzed numerically by using the frozen-time model and the linear amplification theory and the global stability limits are obtained numerically from the energy method. For the various anisotropic ratios, the critical times are predicted as a function of the Darcy–Rayleigh number and the critical Darcy–Rayleigh number is also obtained. The present predictions are compared each another and with existing theoretical ones.     

Darcy-Forchheimer flow with nonlinear mixed convection

An analysis of the mixed convective flow of viscous fluids induced by a nonlinear inclined stretching surface is addressed. Heat and mass transfer phenomena are analyzed with additional effects of heat generation/absorption and activation energy,respectively. The nonlinear Darcy-Forchheimer relation is deliberated. The dimensionless problem is obtained through appropriate transformations. Convergent series solutions are obtained by utilizing an optimal homotopic analysis method(OHAM). Graphs dep...     

Effects of variable viscosity and thermal conductivity of Al2O3–water nanofluid on heat transfer enhancement in natural convection

Heat transfer enhancement in horizontal annuli using variable properties of Al₂O₃–water nanofluid is investigated. Different viscosity and thermal conductivity models are used to evaluate heat transfer enhancement in the annulus. The base case uses the Chon et al. expression for conductivity and the Nguyen et al. experimental data for viscosity which take into account the dependence of these properties on temperature and nanoparticle volume fraction. It was observed that for Ra  10⁴, the average Nusselt number was reduced by increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles. However, for Ra = 10³, the average Nusselt number increased by increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles. For Ra  10⁴, the Nusselt number was deteriorated every where around the cylinder surface especially at high expansion ratio. However, this reduction is only restricted to certain regions around the cylinder surface at Ra = 10³. For Ra  10⁴, the difference in Nusselt number between the Maxwell Garnett and Chon et al. model prediction is small. But, there was a deviation in prediction at Ra = 10³ and this deviation becomes more significant at high volume fraction of nanoparticles. The Nguyen et al. data and Brinkman model gives completely different predictions for Ra  10⁴ where the difference in prediction of Nusselt number reached 30%. However, this difference was less than 10% at Ra = 10³.     

Radiation effect on mixed convection from a horizontal surface in a porous medium

The effect of thermal radiation on the non-Darcy mixed convection flow over a non-isothermal horizontal surface immersed in a saturated porous medium has been studied. The wall temperature is assumed to have a power-law variation with the distance measured from the leading edge of the plate. The non-linear coupled parabolic partial differential equations governing the flow have been solved numerically using a finite-difference scheme. For some particular cases, the self-similar solution has also been obtained. The heat transfer is found to be strongly influenced by the radiative flux number, buoyancy parameter, variation of wall temperature, non-Darcy parameter and the nature of the free stream velocity.     

A linear stability analysis of thermal convection in spherical shells with variable radial gravity based on the Tau-Chebyshev method

The onset of thermal convection in a non-rotating spherical shell is investigated using linear theory. The Tau-Chebyshev spectral method is used to integrate the linearized equations. We investigate the onset of thermal convection by considering two cases of the radial gravitational field (i) a local acceleration, acting radially inward, that is proportional to the distance from the center r, and (ii) a radial gravitational central force that is proportional to r⁻ⁿ. The former case has been widely analyzed in the literature, because it constitutes a simplified model that is usually used, in astrophysics and geophysics, and is studied here to validate the numerical method. The latter case was analyzed since the case n = 5 has been experimentally realized (by means of the dielectrophoretic effect) under microgravity condition, in the experimental container called GeoFlow, inside the International Space Station. Our study is aimed to clarify the role of (i) a radially inward central force (either proportional to r or to r⁻ⁿ), (ii) a base conductive temperature distribution provided by either a uniform heat source or an imposed temperature difference between outer and inner spheres, and (iii) the aspect ratio η (ratio of the radii of the inner and outer spheres), on the critical Rayleigh number. In all cases the surface of the spheres has been assumed to be rigid. The results obtained with the linear theory based on the Tau-Chebyshev spectral method are compared with those of the integration of the full non-linear equations solved by using the spectral element method. By using the Tau-Chebyshev method, we were able to explore new cases that have not been previously reported in the literature.