Flow organization in non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq Rayleigh-Benard convection in water

Abstract

Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq (NOB) effects on the flow organization in two-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard turbulence are numerically analyzed. The working fluid is water. We focus on the temperature profiles, the center temperature, the Nusselt number, and on the analysis of the velocity field. Several velocity amplitudes (or Reynolds numbers) and several kinetic profiles are introduced and studied; these together describe the various features of the rather complex flow organization. The results are presented both as functions of the Rayleigh number Ra (with Ra up to 10^8) for fixed temperature difference (Delta) between top and bottom plates and as functions of Delta ("non-Oberbeck-Boussinesqness") for fixed Ra with Delta up to 60 K. All results are consistent with the available experimental NOB data for the center temperature Tc and the Nusselt number ratio Nu_{NOB}/Nu_{OB} (the label OB meaning that the Oberbeck-Boussinesq conditions are valid). Beyond Ra ~ 10^6 the flow consists of a large diagonal center convection roll and two smaller rolls in the upper and lower corners. In the NOB case the center convection roll is still characterized by only one velocity scale.