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Experiments on convective layer formation and merging in a differentially heated slot

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2006

R. A. Wirtz  and
C. S. Reddy
R. A. Wirtz
Affiliation:
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, New York 13676
C. S. Reddy
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23508
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Abstract

This work describes experiments in which a stably stratified salt solution is subjected to steady lateral temperature gradients. The criteria for the onset of layered convection are observed to agree with previously published stability analysis. Convective layers formed in this way are found to be statically unstable; they always merge two into one to form a new system. This process continues until the density jump at the solute interface between layers is larger than the density deficit produced by the side wall heating/cooling. The eventual stable system develops into well-mixed convective layers separated by sharp solute interfaces. The conditions for any subsequent layer intermixing and its effect on the lateral heat transfer across the slot, are also described.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , 11 April 1979 , pp. 451 - 464
Copyright
© 1979 Cambridge University Press

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References

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