Coriolis effect on centrifugal buoyancy-driven convection in a thin cylindrical shell

Rouhi, A ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7837-418X, Lohse, D, Marusic, I, Sun, C and Chung, D, 2021. Coriolis effect on centrifugal buoyancy-driven convection in a thin cylindrical shell. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 910: A32. ISSN 0022-1120

[thumbnail of 1401394_Rouhi.pdf]
Preview
Text
1401394_Rouhi.pdf - Published version

Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

We study the effect of the Coriolis force on centrifugal buoyancy-driven convection in a rotating cylindrical shell with inner cold wall and outer hot wall. This is done by performing direct numerical simulations for increasing inverse Rossby number Ro−1 from zero (no Coriolis force) to 20 (very large Coriolis force) and for Rayleigh number Ra from 107 to 1010 and Prandtl number Pr=0.7, corresponding to air. We invoke the thin-shell limit, which neglects the curvature and radial variations of the centripetal acceleration. As Ro−1 increases from zero, the system forms an azimuthal bidirectional wind that reaches its maximum momentum at an optimal Ro−1opt, associated with a maximal skin-friction coefficient Cf and a minimal Nusselt number Nu. Just beyond Ro−1opt, the wind weakens and an axial, quasi-two-dimensional cyclone, corotating with the system, begins to form. A local ‘turbulence’ inverse Rossby number (non-dimensionalised by the eddy turnover time) determines the onset of cyclone formation for all Ra, when its value reaches approximately 4. At Ro−1≫Ro−1opt, the system falls into the geostrophic regime with a sudden drop in Nu. The bidirectional wind for Ro−1≤Ro−1opt is a feature of this system, as it hastens the boundary layer transition from laminar to turbulent, towards the ultimate regime. We see the onset of this transition at Ra=1010 and Ro−1≃Ro−1opt, although the mean flow profile has not yet fully collapsed on the Prandtl–von Kármán (logarithmic) law.

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Creators: Rouhi, A., Lohse, D., Marusic, I., Sun, C. and Chung, D.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 10 March 2021
Volume: 910
ISSN: 0022-1120
Identifiers:
Number
Type
10.1017/jfm.2020.959
DOI
1401394
Other
Rights: © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions: Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by: Linda Sullivan
Date Added: 19 Jan 2021 16:11
Last Modified: 31 May 2021 15:07
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/42061

Actions (login required)

Edit View Edit View

Statistics

Views

Views per month over past year

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year