Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:51:58.091Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Some experiments on the motion of an isolated laminar thermal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

D. J. Shlien
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Present address: School of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
D. W. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Abstract

A novel technique for injecting buoyancy (heat) into a liquid is described and demonstrated. When buoyancy was injected for a short time a laminar vortex ring formed. Its vertical displacement was found to be only approximately proportional to the square root of time (measured from an apparent initial time). Approximate geometrical similarity was also observed although the Reynolds number decreased from 28 to about 14.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1975 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Batchelor, G. K. 1954 Heat convection and buoyancy effects in fluids. Quart. J. Roy. Met. Soc. 80, 339358.Google Scholar
Chu, T. Y. & Goldstein, R. J. 1973 Turbulent convection in a horizontal layer of water. J. Fluid Mech. 60, 141159.Google Scholar
Elder, J. W. 1967 Transient convection in a porous medium. J. Fluid Mech. 27, 609623.Google Scholar
Elder, J. W. 1968 The unstable thermal interface. J. Fluid Mech. 32, 6996.Google Scholar
Elder, J. W. 1969 Hybrid computer techniques in the laboratory and classroom. Phys. Fluids Suppl. 12, II 270–275.Google Scholar
Escudier, M. P. & Maxworthy, T. 1973 On the motion of turbulent thermals. J. Fluid Mech. 61, 541552.Google Scholar
Fohl, T. 1968 Turbulent effects in the formation of buoyant vortex rings. J. Appl. Phys. 38, 40974098.Google Scholar
Fox, D. G. 1972 Numerical simulation of three-dimensional, shape-preserving convective elements. J. Atmos. Sci. 29, 322341.Google Scholar
Gibson, C. H. & Schwarz, W. H. 1963 Detection of conductivity fluctuations in a turbulent flow field. J. Fluid Mech. 16, 357364.Google Scholar
Lilly, D. K. 1962 On the numerical simulation of buoyant convection. Tellus, 14, 148172.Google Scholar
Lilly, D. K. 1964 Numerical solutions for the shape-preserving two-dimensional thermal convection element. J. Atmos. Sci. 21, 8398.Google Scholar
Lin, S.-C., Tsang, L. & Wang, C. P. 1972 Temperature field structure in strongly heated buoyant thermals. Phys. Fluids, 15, 21182128.Google Scholar
Malkus, J. S. & Witt, G. 1959 The evolution of a convective element: a numerical calculation. In The Atmosphere and the Sea in Motion, pp. 425439. New York: Rockefeller Institute Press.
Maxworthy, T. 1972 The structure and stability of vortex rings. J. Fluid Mech. 51, 1532.Google Scholar
Morton, B. R. 1960 Weak thermal vortex rings. J. Fluid Mech. 9, 107118.Google Scholar
Morton, B. R., Taylor, G. I. & Turner, J. S. 1956 Turbulent gravitational convection from maintained and instantaneous sources. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 234, 123.Google Scholar
Ogura, Y. 1962 Convection of isolated masses of a buoyant fluid: a numerical calculation. J. Atmos. Sci. 19, 492502.Google Scholar
Okabe, J. & Inoue, S. 1961 The generation of vortex rings. Rep. Res. Inst. Appl. Mech., Kyushu University, 8, 32.Google Scholar
Richards, J. M. 1961 An experimental investigation of penetrative convection in the atmosphere, using a water model. Ph.D. dissertation, Imperial College, London.
Richards, J. M. 1963 Experiments on motions of isolated cylindrical thermals through unstratified surroundings. Int. J. Air Water Pollution, 7, 1734.Google Scholar
Scorer, R. S. 1957 Experiments on convection of isolated masses of buoyant fluid. J. Fluid Mech. 2, 583594.Google Scholar
Sparrow, E. M., Husar, R. B. & Goldstein, R. J. 1970 Observations and other characteristics of thermals. J. Fluid Mech. 41, 793800.Google Scholar
Tankin, R. S. & Farhadieh, R. 1971 Effects of thermal convection currents on formation of ice. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 14, 953961.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1946 Dynamics of a mass of hot gas rising in air. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Rep. MDDC-919.Google Scholar
Thompson, D. W. 1970 Effect of interfacial mobility on mass transfer in gas-liquid systems. Indust. Engng Chem. Fund. 9, 243248.Google Scholar
Turner, J. S. 1957 Buoyant vortex rings. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 239, 6175.Google Scholar
Turner, J. S. 1963 Model experiments relating to thermals with increasing buoyancy. Quart. J. Roy. Met. Soc. 89, 6274.Google Scholar
Turner, J. S. 1964 The dynamics of spheroidal masses of buoyant fluid. J. Fluid Mech. 19, 481490.Google Scholar
Wang, C. P. 1971 Motion of an isolated buoyant thermal. Phys. Fluids, 14, 16431647.Google Scholar
Wegener, P. P. & Parlange, J. Y. 1973 Spherical-cap bubbles. Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 5, 79100.Google Scholar
Woodward, B. 1959 The motion in and around isolated thermals. Quart. J. Roy. Met. Soc. 85, 144151.Google Scholar