The evolution of a large-scale azimuthal velocity field in a rotating cylindrical layer of fluid with meridional convective circulation was studied experimentally. Two cases were considered: direct circulation provided by a rim heater at the periphery and indirect circulation provided by a central heater. The detailed 3D structure of the mean large-scale velocity field is reconstructed using the PIV technique. Due to the action of the Coriolis force the meridional flow results in differential rotation. Differential rotation is characterized by the mean values of radial and vertical gradients of azimuthal velocity. Strong negative mean radial gradient which grows with the Grasshoff number is provided by direct circulation. In the case of indirect circulation a pronounced negative gradient arises at moderate Grashoff number. The behavior of the mean vertical gradient is quite different: a positive vertical gradient grows logarithmically with Grasshoff number under direct circulation, whereas a weak negative gradient characterizes the indirect circulation. This difference follows from the structure of the flow -- the direct circulation provides a large cyclonic area localized above the anticyclonic flow, while indirect circulation leads to a strong separation of these two areas in the radial direction (the central part is occupied by the cyclonic flow and the periphery by the anticyclonic flow). Meridional circulation leads to substantial variation of the integral angular momentum. Direct circulation results in the growth of the integral angular momentum and indirect circulation causes it to decrease. At the same heating power, the increase of angular momentum at direct circulation is much stronger than its decrease at indirect circulation.
Experimental and numerical study of the steady-state cyclonic vortex from isolated heat source in a rotating fluid layer is described. The structure of laboratory cyclonic vortex is similar to the typical structure of tropical cyclones from observational data and numerical modelling including secondary flows in the boundary layer. Differential characteristics of the flow were studied by numerical simulation using CFD software FlowVision. Helicity distribution in rotating fluid layer with localized heat source was analysed. Two mechanisms which play role in helicity generation are found. The fi…
Fluid flow and convective heat transfer in rotor-stator configurations, which are of great importance in different engineering applications, are treated in details in this review. The review focuses on convective heat transfer in predominantly outward air flow in the rotor-stator geometries with and without impinging jets and incorporates two main parts, namely, experimental/theoretical methodologies and geometries/results. Experimental methodologies include naphthalene sublimation techniques, steady state (thin layer) and transient (thermochromic liquid crystals) thermal measurements, thermoc…
We consider stability of steady convective flows in a horizontal layer with stress-free boundaries, heated below and rotating about the vertical axis, in the Boussinesq approximation (the Rayleigh-Benard convection). The flows under consideration are convective rolls or square cells, the latter being asymptotically equal to the sum of two orthogonal rolls of the same wave number k. We assume, that the Rayleigh number R is close to the critical one, R_c(k), for the onset of convective flows of this wave number: R=R_c(k)+epsilon^2; the amplitude of the flows is of the order of epsilon. We show t…
We use a simplified model to study wave reflection and transmission at interface of convective region and stably stratified region (e.g. radiative zone in star or stratification layer in gaseous planet). Inertial wave in convective region and gravito-inertial wave in stably stratified region are considered. We begin with polar area and then extend to any latitude. Six cases are discussed (see Table 1), and in Case 2 both waves co-exist in both regions. Four configurations are further discussed for Case 2. The angles and energy ratios of wave reflection and transmission are calculated. It is fo…
A monomodal model for stellar and planetary convection is derived for the magnitude of the rms velocity, degree of superadiabaticity, and characteristic length scale as a function of rotation rate as well as with thermal and viscous diffusivities. The convection model is used as a boundary condition for a linearization of the equations of motion in the transition region between convectively unstable and stably-stratified regions, yielding the depth to which convection penetrates into the stable region and establishing a relationship between that depth and the local convective Rossby number, di…
This article deals with study of the steady flow and heat transfer characteristics of Sisko fluid over a rotating infinite disk. The flow and heat transfer aspects are thoroughly investigated encompassing highly shear thinning/thickening Sisko fluids. The modeled boundary layer equations are reduced to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using the appropriate transformation. The resulting equations are then solved numerically by shooting method in the domain . The numerical data for the velocity and temperature fields are graphically sketched and effects of the relevant param…
Gravito-inertial waves are excited at the interface of convective and radiative regions and by the Reynolds stresses in the bulk of the convection zones of rotating stars and planets. Such waves have notable asteroseismic signatures in the frequency spectra of rotating stars, particularly among rapidly rotating early-type stars, which provides a means of probing their internal structure and dynamics. They can also transport angular momentum, chemical species, and energy from the excitation region to where they dissipate in radiative regions. To estimate the excitation and convective parameter …
The flow of fluid confined between a heated rotating cylinder and a cooled stationary cylinder is a canonical experiment for the study of heat transfer in engineering. The theoretical treatment of this system is greatly simplified if the cylinders are assumed to be of infinite length or periodic in the axial direction, in which cases heat transfer occurs only through conduction as in a solid. We here investigate numerically heat transfer and the onset of turbulence in such flows by using both periodic and no-slip boundary conditions in the axial direction. We obtain a simple linear criterion t…
Using numerical simulations of rapidly rotating Boussinesq convection in a Cartesian box, we study the formation of long-lived, large-scale, depth-invariant coherent structures. These structures, which consist of concentrated cyclones, grow to the horizontal size of the box, with velocities significantly larger than the convective motions. We vary the rotation rate, the thermal driving and the aspect ratio in order to determine the domain of existence of these large-scale vortices (LSV). We find that two conditions are required for their formation. First, the Rayleigh number, a meaure of the t…
The present study numerically explores the mixed convection phenomena in a differentially heated ventilated square cavity with active flow modulation via a rotating plate. Forced convection flow in the cavity is attained by maintaining an external fluid flow through an opening at the bottom of the left cavity wall while leaving it through another opening at the right cavity wall. A counter-clockwise rotating plate at the center of the cavity acts as active flow modulator. Moving mesh approach is used for the rotation of the plate and the numerical solution is achieved using Arbitrary Lagrangia…
Multi-dimensional (magneto-)hydrodynamical simulations of physical processes in stellar interiors depend on a multitude of uncalibrated free parameters, which set the spatial and time scales of their computations. We aim to provide an asteroseismic calibration of the wave and convective Rossby numbers, and of the stiffness at the interface between the convective core and radiative envelope of intermediate-mass stars. We deduce these quantities for rotating dwarfs from the observed properties of their identified gravity and gravito-inertial modes. We rely on near-core rotation rates and asteros…
Buoyancy-driven convection is likely the dominant driver of turbulent motions in the universe, and thus, is widely studied by physicists, engineers, geophysicists and astrophysicists. Maybe unsurprisingly, these different communities discuss the gross convective behaviors in different ways, often without significant cross-talk existing between them. Here, we seek to draw connections between these communities. We do so by carrying out a set of basic scale estimations for how heat and fluid momentum transport should behave in non-rotating, slowly rotating and rapidly rotating buoyancy-driven con…
The solar convection zone rotates differentially, with its equatorial region rotating more rapidly than the polar regions. This form of differential rotation, also observed in many other low-mass stars, is understood to arise when Coriolis effects are stronger than those associated with buoyant driving of the convection. When buoyancy dominates, a so-called antisolar state of differential rotation results, characterized by rapidly-rotating poles and a slow equator. The transition between these two states has been shown to occur when the intensity of these two forces is roughly equal or, equiva…
We derive the scaling of differential rotation in both slowly- and rapidly-rotating convection zones using order of magnitude methods. Our calculations apply across stars and fluid planets and all rotation rates, as well as to both magnetized and purely hydrodynamic systems. We find shear $|R\nablaΩ|$ of order the angular frequency $Ω$ for slowly-rotating systems with $Ω\ll |N|$, where $N$ is the \brvs\ frequency, and find that it declines as a power-law in $Ω$ for rapidly-rotating systems with $Ω\gg |N|$. We further calculate the meridional circulation rate and baroclinicity and examine the m…
Zonal flows are often found in rotating convective systems. Not only are these jet-flows driven by the convection, they can also have a profound effect on the nature of the convection. In this work the cylindrical annulus geometry is exploited in order to perform nonlinear simulations seeking to produce strong zonal flows and multiple jets. The parameter regime is extended to Prandtl numbers that are not unity. Multiple jets are found to be spaced according to a Rhines scaling based on the zonal flow speed, not the convective velocity speed. Under certain conditions the nonlinear convection ap…
We report heat transfer and temperature profile measurements in laboratory experiments of rapidly rotating convection in water under intense thermal forcing (Rayleigh number $Ra$ as high as $\sim 10^{13}$) and unprecedentedly strong rotational influence (Ekman numbers $E$ as low as $10^{-8}$). Measurements of the mid-height vertical temperature gradient connect quantitatively to predictions from numerical models of asymptotically rapidly rotating convection, separating various flow phenomenologies. Past the limit of validity of the asymptotically-reduced models, we find novel behaviors in a re…
This study offers an explanation of a recently observed effect of destabilization of free convective flows by weak rotation. After studying several models where flows are driven by a simultaneous action of convection and rotation, it is concluded that the destabilization is observed in the cases where centrifugal force acts against main convective circulation. At relatively low Prandtl numbers this counter action can split the main vortex into two counter rotating vortices, where the interaction leads to instability. At larger Prandtl numbers, the counter action of the centrifugal force steepe…
Gravito-inertial waves can be excited at the interface of convective and radiative regions and by the Reynolds stresses in the bulk of the convection zone. The magnitude of their energy flux will therefore vary with the properties of the convection. To assess how convection changes with rotation, a simplified local monomodal model for rotating convection is presented that provides the magnitude of the rms velocity, degree of superadiabaticity, and characteristic length scale as a function of the convective Rossby number as well as with thermal and viscous diffusivities. In the context of this …
The aim is to laboratory simulation of convective plumes in the lower mantle, generated by a hot spot on the Earth's core. In the fluid dynamics video, presented results of experimental modeling of the plume from the hot point generated by the laser. Demonstrated that in a fluid with a high Prandtl number, point heating can generate complex spiral plumes. This experimental result allows us to question the classical notion of a mantle plume, as the column of heat.
Large-scale weakly nonlinear perturbations of convective magnetic dynamos in a rotating layer
Institute of Aeronautical Technology(航空技术研究所);Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics, Russian Ac. Sci.(俄罗斯科学院地震预测理论与数学地球物理研究所)
Differential rotation is central to a great many mysteries in stars and planets. In Part I we predicted the order of magnitude and scaling of the differential rotation in both hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic convection zones. Our results apply to both slowly- and rapidly-rotating systems, and provide a general picture of differential rotation in stars and fluid planets. We further calculated the scalings of the meridional circulation, entropy gradient and baroclinicity. In this companion paper we compare these predictions with a variety of observations and numerical simulations. With a fe…
Many geophysical and astrophysical phenomena are driven by turbulent fluid dynamics, containing behaviors separated by tens of orders of magnitude in scale. While direct simulations have made large strides toward understanding geophysical systems, such models still inhabit modest ranges of the governing parameters that are difficult to extrapolate to planetary settings. The canonical problem of rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection provides an alternate approach - isolating the fundamental physics in a reduced setting. Theoretical studies and asymptotically-reduced simulations in rotating convec…
In close exoplanetary systems, tidal interactions drive orbital and spin evolution of planets and stars over long timescales. Tidally-forced inertial waves (restored by the Coriolis acceleration) in the convective envelopes of low-mass stars and giant gaseous planets contribute greatly to the tidal dissipation when they are excited and subsequently damped (e.g. through viscous friction), especially early in the life of a system. These waves are known to be subject to nonlinear effects, including triggering differential rotation in the form of zonal flows. In this study, we use a realistic tida…
Turbulent convection is thought to act as an effective viscosity in damping equilibrium tidal flows, driving spin and orbital evolution in close convective binary systems. Compared to mixing-length predictions, this viscosity ought to be reduced when the tidal frequency $|ω_t|$ exceeds the turnover frequency $ω_{cν}$ of the dominant convective eddies, but the efficiency of this reduction has been disputed. We reexamine this long-standing controversy using direct numerical simulations of an idealized global model. We simulate thermal convection in a full sphere, and externally forced by the equ…
We present the first detailed thermal and velocity field characterization of convection in a rotating cylindrical tank of liquid gallium, which has thermophysical properties similar to those of planetary core fluids. Our laboratory experiments, and a closely associated direct numerical simulation, are all carried out in the regime prior to the onset of steady convective modes. This allows us to study the oscillatory convective modes, sidewall modes and broadband turbulent flow that develop in liquid metals before the advent of steady columnar modes. Our thermo-velocimetric measurements show th…
So far, numerical studies of double-diffusive layering in turbulent convective flows have neglected the effects of rotation. We undertake a first step into that direction by investigating how Coriolis forces affect a double-diffusive layer inside a rotating spherical shell. For this purpose we have run simulations in a parameter regime where these layers are expected to form and successively increased the rate of rotation with the result that fast rotation is found to have a similar stabilising effect on the overall convective flux as an increase of the stability ratio $R_ρ$ has in a non-rotat…
Observations suggest that the large-scale convective velocities obtained by solar convection simulations might be over-estimated (convective conundrum). One plausible solution to this could be the small-scale dynamo which cannot be fully resolved by global simulations. The small-scale Lorentz force suppresses the convective motions and also the turbulent mixing of entropy between upflows and downflows, leading to a large effective Prandtl number ($\Pr$). We explore this idea in three-dimensional global rotating convection simulations at different thermal conductivity ($κ$), i.e., at different …
Several recent studies have demonstrated how large-scale vortices may arise spontaneously in rotating planar convection. Here we examine the dynamo properties of such flows in rotating Boussinesq convection. For moderate values of the magnetic Reynolds number ($100 \lesssim Rm \lesssim 550$, with $Rm$ based on the box depth and the convective velocity), a large-scale (i.e. system-size) magnetic field is generated. The amplitude of the magnetic energy oscillates in time, nearly out of phase with the oscillating amplitude of the large-scale vortex. The large-scale vortex is disrupted once the ma…
We experimentally and numerically investigated the generation of plumes from a local heat source (LHS) and studied the interaction of these plumes with cellular convective motion (CCM) in a rectangular cavity filled with silicon oil at a Prandtl number (Pr) of approximately two thousand. The LHS is generated using a 0.2-W green laser beam. A roll-type CCM is generated by vertically heating one side of the cavity. The CCM may lead to the formation of an unusual spiral convective plume that resembles a vertical Archimedes spiral. A similar plume is obtained in a direct numerical simulation. We d…
In rotating stars and planets, excitation of inertial waves in convective envelopes provides an important channel for tidal dissipation, but the dissipation rate due to inertial waves depends erratically on the tidal frequency. Tidal dissipation is significantly enhanced at some frequencies, suggesting possible resonances between the tidal forcing and some eigenmodes. However, the nature of these resonances remains enigmatic owing to the singularity of the eigenvalue problem of inertial waves, and the resonances are often mistakenly attributed to wave attractors in the literature. In this lett…
The research is devoted to the stability of convective flow in a nonuniformly rotating layer of an electrically conducting fluid in a spiral magnetic field. The stationary and oscillatory modes of magnetic convection are considered depending on the profile of the angular rotation velocity (Rossby number $\textrm{Ro}$) and on the profile of the external azimuthal magnetic field (magnetic Rossby number $\textrm{Rb}$). The nonlinear dynamic system of Lorentz type equations is obtained by using the Galerkin method. Numerical analysis of these equations has shown the presence of chaotic behavior of…
The linear theory for rotating compressible convection in a plane layer geometry is presented for the astrophysically-relevant case of low Prandtl number gases. When the rotation rate of the system is large, the flow remains geostrophically balanced for all stratification levels investigated and the classical (i.e., incompressible) asymptotic scaling laws for the critical parameters are recovered. For sufficiently small Prandtl numbers, increasing stratification tends to further destabilise the fluid layer, decrease the critical wavenumber and increase the oscillation frequency of the convecti…
Numerical simulation of rotating convection in plane layers with free slip boundaries show that the convective flows can be classified according to a quantity constructed from the Reynolds, Prandtl and Ekman numbers. Three different flow regimes appear: Laminar flow close to the onset of convection, turbulent flow in which the heat flow approaches the heat flow of non-rotating convection, and an intermediate regime in which the heat flow scales according to a power law independent of thermal diffusivity and kinematic viscosity.
Motivated by understanding the dynamics of stellar and planetary interiors, we have performed a set of direct numerical simulations of Boussinesq convection in a rotating full sphere. The domain is internally heated with fixed temperature and stress-free boundary conditions, but fixed heat flux and no-slip boundary conditions are also briefly considered. We particularly focus on the large-scale coherent structures and the mean zonal flows that can develop in the system. At Prandtl number of unity, as the thermal forcing (measured by the Rayleigh number) is increased above the value for the ons…
Quantifying tidal interactions in close-in two-body systems is of prime interest since they have a crucial impact on the architecture and on the rotational history of the bodies. Various studies have shown that the dissipation of tides in either body is very sensitive to its structure and to its dynamics, like differential rotation which exists in the outer convective enveloppe of solar-like stars and giant gaseous planets. In particular, tidal waves may strongly interact with zonal flows at the so-called corotation resonances, where the wave's Doppler-shifted frequency cancels out. We aim to …
Direct numerical simulations are employed to reveal three distinctly different flow regions in rotating spherical Rayleigh-Bénard convection. In the low-latitude region $\mathrm{I}$ vertical (parallel to the axis of rotation) convective columns are generated between the hot inner and the cold outer sphere. The mid-latitude region $\mathrm{II}$ is dominated by vertically aligned convective columns formed between the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the outer sphere. The diffusion-free scaling, which indicates bulk-dominated convection, originates from this mid-latitude region. In the equato…
Recent numerical simulations of dynamo action resulting from rotating convection have revealed some serious problems in applying the standard picture of mean field electrodynamics at high values of the magnetic Reynolds number, and have thereby underlined the difficulties in large-scale magnetic field generation in this regime. Here we consider kinematic dynamo processes in a rotating convective layer of Boussinesq fluid with the additional influence of a large-scale horizontal velocity shear. Incorporating the shear flow enhances the dynamo growth rate and also leads to the generation of sign…
In Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies composed of the coupling of different simulations, the uncertainty in one stage may be propagated to the following stage and affect the accuracy of the prediction. In this paper, a framework for uncertainty quantification is applied to the two-step simulation of the mechanical design of a swirling jet flow generated by a rotating pipe (\textit{Simulation 1}) impinging on a flat plate to provide convective heat transfer (\textit{Simulation 2}). The first approach is the Stochastic Collocation Method (SCM) with Clenshaw-Curtis sparse grids. The concl…
We experimentally investigate the dynamics of water cooled from below at 0^oC and heated from above. Taking advantage of the unusual property that water's density maximum is at about 4^oC, this set-up allows us to simulate in the laboratory a turbulent convective layer adjacent to a stably stratified layer, which is representative of atmospheric and stellar conditions. High precision temperature and velocity measurements are described, with a special focus on the convectively excited internal waves propagating in the stratified zone. Most of the convective energy is at low frequency, and corre…
Contactless transfer of angular momentum from rotating laser beam to a solid target is experimentally demonstrated. The effect is observed under irradiation of a glassy carbon target immersed in water by a pulsed laser beam that is scanned across the target surface along circular trajectory. The direction of target rotation coincides with that of the laser beam at small thickness of the liquid layer above the target while is opposite in case of higher thickness of the layer. The effect is interpreted as the interplay between thermocapillary and convective flows induced in the liquid by laser h…
Numerical simulations of rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection are presented for both no slip and free slip boundaries. The goal is to find a criterion distinguishing convective flows dominated by the Coriolis force from those nearly unaffected by rotation. If one uses heat transport as an indicator of which regime the flow is in, one finds that the transition between the flow regimes always occurs at the same value of a certain combination of Reynolds, Prandtl and Ekman numbers for both boundary conditions. If on the other hand one uses the helicity of the velocity field to identify flows nearl…
We describe the design and performance of a new rotating dilution refrigerator that will primarily be used for investigating the dynamics of quantized vortices in superfluid 4He. All equipment required to operate the refrigerator and perform experimental measurements is mounted on two synchronously driven, but mechanically decoupled, rotating carousels. The design allows for relative simplicity of operation and maintenance and occupies a minimal amount of space in the laboratory. Only two connections between the laboratory and rotating frames are required for the transmission of electrical pow…
Rayleigh-Bénard convection in rotating spherical shells can be considered as a simplified analogue of many astrophysical and geophysical fluid flows. Here, we use three-dimensional direct numerical simulations to study this physical process. We construct a dataset of more than 200 numerical models that cover a broad parameter range with Ekman numbers spanning $3\times 10^{-7} \leq E \leq 10^{-1}$, Rayleigh numbers within the range $10^3 < Ra < 2\times 10^{10}$ and a Prandtl number unity. We investigate the scaling behaviours of both local (length scales, boundary layers) and global (Nusselt an…