Unsteady multicellular natural convection in a narrow horizontal cylindrical annulus

Journal Article · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of Heat Transfer (Transactions of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), Series C); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2910388· OSTI ID:5899193

Fant, D B ^[1]; Prusa, J; Rothmayer, A P ^[2]

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1. Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States)
2. Iowa State Univ., Ames (United States)

Numerical and analytical solutions are presented for multicellular flow instability and the subsequent nonlinear development in a horizontal cylindrical annulus. The Boussinesq approximated Navier-Stokes equations are simplified to Cartesian-like boundary layer equations by means of a high Rayleigh number small gap asymptotic expansion. The full numerical problem is explored for the limiting case of zero Prandtl number. At a finite scaled gap spacing, an instability sets in, which results in periodic multicellular flow. The numerical solutions are found to progress through an increasingly complex sequence of periodic solutions, culminating in a very complex unsteady solution that has features normally associated with chaotic systems.

• OSTI ID: 5899193
• Journal Information: Journal of Heat Transfer (Transactions of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), Series C); (United States), Vol. 112:2; ISSN 0022-1481
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
ANNULAR SPACE
NATURAL CONVECTION
ASYMPTOTIC SOLUTIONS
CALCULATION METHODS
CYLINDERS
DESIGN
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
REACTORS
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
UNSTEADY FLOW
CONFIGURATION
CONVECTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
FLUID FLOW
HEAT TRANSFER
MASS TRANSFER
SPACE
420400* - Engineering- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow