Rayleigh-B\'enard thermal convection perturbed by a horizontal heat flux

Abstract

In Rayleigh-B\'enard convection, it has been found that the amount of heat passing through the fluid has a power law dependence on the imposed temperature difference. Modifying this dependence, either enhancing or reducing the heat transfer capability of fluids, is important in many scientific and practical applications. Here, we present a simple means to control the vertical heat transfer in Rayleigh-B\'enard convection by injecting heat through one lateral side of the fluid domain and extracting the same amount of heat from the opposite side. This horizontal heat flux regulates the large-scale circulation, and increases the heat transfer rate in the vertical direction. Our numerical and theoretical studies demonstrate how a classical Rayleigh-B\'enard convection responds to such a perturbation, when the system is near or well above the onset of convection.