Universal properties of penetrative turbulent Rayleigh--B\'enard convection in cold water near $4^\circ\rm{C}$

Abstract

Penetrative turbulence, which occurs in a convectively unstable fluid layer and penetrates into an adjacent, originally stably stratified layer, is numerically and theoretically analyzed. We chose the most relevant example, namely thermally driven flow of water with a temperature around $T_m\approx 4^\circ\rm{C}$, where it has its density maximum. We pick the Rayleigh-B\'enard geometry with the bottom plate temperature $T_b > 4^\circ\rm{C}$ and the top plate temperature $T_t \le 4^\circ\rm{C}$. Next to the overall thermal driving strength set by the temperature difference $\Delta = T_b - T_t$ (the Rayleigh number $Ra$ in dimensionless form), the crucial new control parameter as compared to standard Rayleigh-B\'enard convection is the density inversion parameter $\theta_m \equiv (T_m - T_t ) / \Delta$. The crucial response parameters are the relative mean mid-height temperature $\theta_c$ and the overall heat transfer (i.e., the Nusselt number $Nu$). We theoretically derive the universal (i.e., $Ra$-independent) dependence $\theta_c (\theta_m) =(1+\theta_m^2)/2$, which holds for $\theta_m$ below a $Ra$-dependent critical value, beyond which $\theta_c (\theta_m)$ sharply decreases and drops down to $\theta_c=1/2$ at $\theta_m=\theta_{m,c}$. Our direct numerical simulations with $Ra$ up to $10^{10}$ are consistent with these results. The critical density inversion parameter $\theta_{m,c}$ can be precisely predicted by a linear stability analysis. The heat flux $Nu(\theta_m)$ monotonically decreases with increasing $\theta_m$ and we can theoretically derive a universal relation for the relative heat flux $Nu(\theta_m)/Nu(0)$. Finally, we numerically identify and discuss rare transitions between different turbulent flow states for large $\theta_m$.