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Wall-Layer Onset and Whole-Depth Stability in Zero-Mean Heat-Flux Rayleigh–Bénard Convection

James Bjorken1
1SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

Abstract

The zero-mean modulation produces the zero-mean conductive temperature drop but allows wall-induced buoyancy amplification from the time-dependent wall gradient. The question posed in the investigation concerns the high-frequency asymptotic onset of the stability under prescribed harmonic heat flux modulation and specifically if the relation \(\RL\sim C_q\omegac^{2}\) applies exclusively to the wall-layer criterion, whereas finite-amplitude stability holds throughout the depth of the layer. To find out the answer, the current study evaluates various characteristics such as neutral thresholds in terms of Floquet exponent, critical wavenumbers, high-frequency constants, nonlinear and strong stability thresholds, modified and alternative boundary conditions, variation in the Prandtl number, and DNS onset. The parameters are reformulated in terms of penetration depth, onset constant scaling, nonlinear separation constant, signed DNS threshold distance, and synchronization/subharmonic branches identification. The high-frequency onset is localized at first onset with \(\RL\sim C_q\omegac^{2}\) and \(k_c\sim\omegac^{1/2}\) for no-slip and no-stress cases with \(C_q=22.58\) and \(C_k=12.44\). With \(\omegac=100\), this yields respective onset estimates equal to \(2.258\times10^5\) and \(1.244\times10^5\). The above law alone does not guarantee nonlinear stability. The nonlinear thresholds depend on \(\Pran\) and the distant boundary effects, whereas the DNS cases determine whether growth, decay, finite-amplitude onset, and branches apply.

Keywords: Rayleigh–Benard convection; zero-mean heat flux; time-periodic forcing; penetration depth; nonlinear stability; Floquet analysis; thermal boundary conditions
Citation
James Bjorken. Wall-Layer Onset and Whole-Depth Stability in Zero-Mean Heat-Flux Rayleigh–Bénard Convection[J], TK Techforum Journal (ThyssenKrupp Techforum), Volume 2023 (2). 13-38.

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Khalid Alghanim1
1Mechanical Engineering Department, Kuwait University, P. O. Box: 5969, Safat, 13060, Kuwait
Joseph Bentsman1
1Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA