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Oscillations of the large-scale circulation in experimental liquid metal convection at aspect ratios 1.4–3

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2022

Jonathan S. Cheng Open the ORCID record for Jonathan S. Cheng [Opens in a new window] ,
Ibrahim Mohammad Open the ORCID record for Ibrahim Mohammad [Opens in a new window] ,
Bitong Wang Open the ORCID record for Bitong Wang [Opens in a new window] ,
Declan F. Keogh Open the ORCID record for Declan F. Keogh [Opens in a new window] ,
Jarod M. Forer  and
Douglas H. Kelley Open the ORCID record for Douglas H. Kelley [Opens in a new window]
Jonathan S. Cheng*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
Ibrahim Mohammad
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
Bitong Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
Declan F. Keogh
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Jarod M. Forer
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
Douglas H. Kelley
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

We investigate the scaling properties of the primary flow modes and their sensitivity to aspect ratio in a liquid gallium (Prandtl number $Pr = 0.02$) convection system through combined laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. We survey cylindrical aspect ratios $1.4 \le \varGamma \le 3$ and Rayleigh numbers $10^{4} \lesssim Ra \lesssim 10^{6}$. In this range the flow is dominated by a large-scale circulation (LSC) subject to low-frequency oscillations. In line with previous studies, we show robust scaling of the Reynolds number $Re$ with $Ra$ and we confirm that the LSC flow is dominated by a jump-rope vortex (JRV) mode whose signature frequency is present in velocity and temperature measurements. We further show that both $Re$ and JRV frequency scaling trends are relatively insensitive to container geometry. The temperature and velocity spectra consistently show peaks at the JRV frequency, its harmonic and a secondary mode. The relative strength of these peaks changes and the presence of the secondary peak depend highly on aspect ratio, indicating that, despite having a minimal effect on typical velocities and frequencies, the aspect ratio has a significant effect on the underlying dynamics. Applying a bandpass filter at the secondary frequency to velocity measurements reveals that a clockwise twist in the upper half of the fluid layer coincides with a counterclockwise twist in the bottom half, indicating a torsional mode. For aspect ratio $\varGamma = 3$, the unified LSC structure breaks down into multiple rolls in both simulation and experiment.

JFM classification

Turbulent Flows: Turbulent convection
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 949 , 25 October 2022 , A42
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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