An experimental study on thermal circulation driven by horizontal differential heating
An experimental study on thermal circulation driven by horizontal differential heating
Date
2005-09-27
Authors
Wang, Wei
Huang, Rui Xin
Huang, Rui Xin
Linked Authors
Alternative Title
Citable URI
As Published
Date Created
Location
DOI
10.1017/S002211200500577X
Related Materials
Replaces
Replaced By
Keywords
Abstract
Circulation driven by horizontal differential heating is studied, using a double-walled
Plexiglas tank (20×15×2.5 cm3) filled with salt water. For instances of
heating/cooling from above and below, results indicate that there is always
quasi-equilibrium circulation. In contrast to most previous results from experimental/
numerical studies, circulation in our experiments appears in the form of a
shallow cell adjacent to the boundary of thermal forcing. The non-dimensional stream-function
maximum confirms the 1/5-power law of Rossby, Ψ ∼Ra1/5
L . Dissipation rate
measured in the experiments appears to be consistent with theory.
For cases of heating/cooling from a sloping bottom, circulation is similar to cases
with a flat bottom; circulation is strong if heating is below cooling, but it is rather
weak if heating is above cooling. Nevertheless, circulation in all cases is visible to the
naked eye.
Description
Author Posting. © Cambridge University Press, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of Cambridge University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics 540 (2005): 49-73, doi:10.1017/S002211200500577X.
Embargo Date
Citation
Journal of Fluid Mechanics 540 (2005): 49-73