Kim Alards

Lagrangian analysis of rotating Rayleigh-Bénard turbulence

KimAlards
Kim

Dynamics of particles in cylindrical rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection (RRBC) is studied using DNS, not only to understand the physics of RRBC, but also to investigate whether particles with a feedback reaction on the flow can influence the dynamics within the cell.
Lagrangian statistics is used to characterise flow structures and heat transport and statistics obtained in the cell center and near the top- and bottom plates are compared to study the role of boundary layers in RRBC. The cylindrical set-up moreover allows us to compare results directly to particle-tracking experiments in RRBC.
On top of Lagrangian statistics also clustering dynamics of particles with different properties, such as thermal inertia and buoyancy, is investigated. By including both mechanical and thermal two-way coupling we can analyse the influence of particles on the flow and study whether we can trigger a transition to enhanced heat transport, which can be beneficial for industrial applications.