Experimental study of convection in the compressible regime

Rémi Menaut, Yoann Corre, Ludovic Huguet, Thomas Le Reun, Thierry Alboussière, Michael Bergman, Renaud Deguen, Stéphane Labrosse, and Marc Moulin
Phys. Rev. Fluids 4, 033502 – Published 25 March 2019

Abstract

An experiment of thermal convection with significant compressible effects is presented. The high-gravity environment of a centrifuge and the choice of xenon gas enable us to observe an average adiabatic temperature gradient up to 3.5Kcm1 over a 4 cm high cavity. At the highest rotation rate investigated, 9990 rpm, the superadiabatic temperature difference applied to the gas layer is less than the adiabatic temperature difference. The convective regime is characterized by a large Rayleigh number, about 1012, and dominant Coriolis forces (Ekman number of order 106). The analysis of temperature and pressure fluctuations in our experiments shows that the dynamics of the flow is in a quasigeostrophic regime. Still, a classical power law (exponent 0.3±0.04) is observed between the Nusselt number (dimensionless heat flux) and the superadiabatic Rayleigh number (dimensionless superadiabatic temperature difference). However, a potential hysteresis is seen between this classical high flux regime and a lower heat flux regime. It is unclear whether this is due to compressible or Coriolis effects. In the transient regime of convection from an isothermal state, we observe a local decrease of temperature which can only be explained by adiabatic decompression.

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  • Received 12 December 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.033502

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Fluid Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Rémi Menaut1, Yoann Corre1, Ludovic Huguet2, Thomas Le Reun2, Thierry Alboussière1, Michael Bergman3, Renaud Deguen1, Stéphane Labrosse1, and Marc Moulin4

  • 1Université de Lyon, UCBL, ENSL, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
  • 2Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, IRPHE UMR 7342, Marseille, France
  • 3Physics Department, Simon's Rock College, 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, Massachusetts 01230, USA
  • 4Université de Lyon, ENSL, CNRS, Laboratoire de physique de l'ENSL, 69364 Lyon, France

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Vol. 4, Iss. 3 — March 2019

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