Nonlinear Convection in a Rotating Annulus with a Finite Gap

Thermal convection in a fluid-filled gap between the two corotating, concentric cylindrical sidewalls with sloping curved ends driven by radial buoyancy was first studied by Busse (Busse, F.H., "Thermal instabilities in rapidly rotating systems", J. Fluid Mech . 44 , 441-460 (1970)). The annulus model captures the key features of rotating convection in full spherical geometry and has been widely employed to study convection, magnetoconvection and dynamos in planetary systems, usually in connection with the small-gap approximation neglecting the effect of azimuthal curvature of the annulus. This article investigates nonlinear thermal convection in a rotating annulus with a finite gap through numerical simulations of the full set of nonlinear convection equations. Three representative cases are investigated in detail: a large-gap annulus with the ratio of the radii ( s i and s o ) of the sidewalls ξ = s i / o s = 0.1, a medium-gap annulus with ξ = 0.35 and a small-gap annulus with ξ = 0.8. Near the onset of convection, the effect of rapid rotation through the sloping ends forces the first (Hopf) bifurcation in the form of small-scale, steadily drifting rolls (thermal Rossby waves). At moderately large Rayleigh numbers, a variety of different convection patterns are found, including mixed-mode steadily drifting, quasi-periodic (vacillating) and temporally chaotic convection in association with various temporal and spatial symmetry-breaking bifurcations. Our extensive simulations suggest that competition between nonlinear and rotational effects with increasing Rayleigh number leads to an unusual sequence of bifurcation characterized by enlarging the spatial scale of convection.     

Transition to two-dimensional turbulent convection in a rapidly-rotating annulus

Abstract

We study a semi-analytical model of convection in a rapidly-rotating, differentially-heated annulus with sloping top and bottom lids. Rapid rotation leads to a preservation of relatively simple, two-dimensional (2-D) structure in the experimentally-observed flow, while temporal complexity increases with the Rayleigh number. The model is, therefore, two-dimensional; it exhibits a sequence of bifurcations from steadily-drifting, azimuthally-periodic convection columns, also called thermal Rossby waves, through vacillation and a period-doubling cascade, to aperiodic, weakly-turbulent solutions.

Our semi-analytical results match to within a few percent previous numerical results with a limited-resolution 2-D model, and extend these results, due to the greater flexibility of the model presented here. Two types of vacillation are obtained, which we call, by analogy with classical nomenclature of the baroclinic annulus with moderate rotation rates, amplitude vacillation and tilted-trough vacillation. Their properties and dependence on the problem's nondimensional parameters are investigated. The period-doubling cascade for each type of vacillation is studied in some detail.     

Thermal convection in differentially rotating systems

Abstract

The onset of convection in a cylindrical fluid annulus is analyzed in the case when the cylindrical walls are rotating differentially, a temperature gradient in the radial direction is applied, and the centrifugal force dominates over gravity. The small gap approximation is used and no-slip conditions on the cylindrical walls are assumed. It is found that over a considerable range of the parameter space either convection rolls aligned with the axis of rotation or rolls in the perpendicular (azimuthal) direction are preferred. It is shown that by a suitable redefinition of parameters, results for finite amplitude Taylor vortices and for convection rolls in the presence of shear can be applied to the present problem. Weakly nonlinear results for transverse rolls in a Couette flow indicate the possibility of subcritical bifurcation for Prandtl numbers P less than 0.82. Heat and momentum transports are derived as functions of P and the problem of interaction between transverse and longitudinal rolls is considered. The relevance of the analysis for problems of convection in planetary and stellar atmospheres is briefly discussed.     

Finite prandtl number convection in spherical shells

Abstract

Finite amplitude convection in spherical shells with spherically symmetric gravity and heat source distribution is considered. The nonlinear problem of three-dimensional convection in shells with stress-free and isothermal boundaries is solved by expanding the dependent variables in terms of powers of the amplitude of convection. The preferred mode of convection is determined by a stability analysis in which arbitrary infinitesimal disturbances are superimposed on the steady solutions. The shell is assumed to be thick and only shells for which the ratio ζ of outer radius to inner radius is 2 or 3 are considered. Three cases, two of which lead to a self adjoint problem, are treated in this paper. The stable solutions are found to be l=2 modes for ζ=3 where l is the degree of the spherical harmonics and an l=3 non-axisymmetric mode which exhibits the symmetry of a tetrahedron for ζ=2. These stable solutions transport the maximum amount of heat. The Prandtl number dependence of the heat transport is computed for the various solutions analyzed in the paper.     

Finite amplitude convection and magnetic field generation in a rotating spherical shell

Abstract

Finite amplitude solutions for convection in a rotating spherical fluid shell with a radius ratio of η=0.4 are obtained numerically by the Galerkin method. The case of the azimuthal wavenumber m=2 is emphasized, but solutions with m=4 are also considered. The pronounced distinction between different modes at low Prandtl numbers found in a preceding linear analysis (Zhang and Busse, 1987) is also found with respect to nonlinear properties. Only the positive-ω-mode exhibits subcritical finite amplitude convection. The stability of the stationary drifting solutions with respect to hydrodynamic disturbances is analyzed and regions of stability are presented. A major part of the paper is concerned with the growth of magnetic disturbances. The critical magnetic Prandtl number for the onset of dynamo action has been determined as function of the Rayleigh and Taylor numbers for the Prandtl numbers P=0.1 and P=1.0. Stationary and oscillatory dynamos with both, dipolar and quadrupolar, symmetries are close competitors in the parameter space of the problem.     

Convection driven by centrifugal bouyancy in a rotating annulus

Abstract

Drift rates and amplitudes of convection columns driven by centrifugal bouyancy in a cylindrical fluid annulus rotating about a vertical axis have been measured by thermistor probes. Conical top and bottom boundaries of the annular fluid region are responsible for the prograde Rossby wave like dynamics of the convection columns. A constant positive temperature difference between the outer and the inner cylindrical boundaries is generated by the circulation of thermostatically controled water. Mercury and water have been used as converting fluids. The measurements extend the earlier visual observations of Busse and Carrigan (1974) and provide quantitative data for an eventual comparison with nonlinear theories of thermal Rossby waves. The measured drift frequencies are in general agreement with linear theory. Of particular interest is the decline of the amplitude of convection with increasing Rayleigh number in a region beyond the onset of convection.     

Transitions to broad cells in a nonlinear thermal convection system

Abstract

This paper explores the properties of a two-dimensional, Boussinesq convection model with an ad hoc term in the buoyancy tendency equation that represents a positive external feedback process acting on the buoyancy fluctuations. Linear stability analyses and nonlinear integrations are presented for the case of constant heat flux boundary conditions. Although the large wavenumber modes grow the fastest from a state of rest, the nonlinear solutions progressively evolve to cells of small wavenumber. Applications to mesoscale cellular convection in the atmosphere are discussed.     

Magnetoconvection

Abstract

Cowling investigated the effect of an imposed magnetic field on convection in order to explain the origin of sunspots. After summarizing the classical linear theory of Boussinesq magnetoconvection, this review proceeds to more recent nonlinear results. Weakly nonlinear theory is used to establish the relevant bifurcation structure, which involves steady, oscillatory and chaotic solutions. Behaviour found in numerical experiments can then be related to these analytical results. Thereafter, attention is focused on the astrophysically relevant problem of fully compressible magnetoconvection. Steady two-dimensional nonlinear solutions show two important effects: stratification introduces an asymmetry between rising and falling fluid, while compressibility leads to evacuated magnetic flux sheets. Time-dependent behaviour includes transitions between standing waves and travelling waves, as well as changes in horizontal scale, leading to the development of more complicated spatial structures. Work on three-dimensional models, which is now in progress, will lead to a better understanding of the structure of a sunspot.     

A nonlinear dynamo driven by rapidly rotating convection

In Kim et al. (Kim, E., Hughes, D.W. and Soward, A.M., “An investigation into high conductivity dynamo action driven by rotating convection”, Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dynam. 91, 303–332 ().) we investigated kinematic dynamo action driven by rapidly rotating convection in a cylindrical annulus. Here we extend this work to consider self-consistent nonlinear dynamo action in which the back-reaction of the Lorentz force on the flow is taken into account. In particular, we investigate, as a function of magnetic Prandtl number, the evolution of an initially weak magnetic field in two different types of convective flow – one chaotic and the other integrable. On saturation, the latter shows a systematic dependence on the magnetic Prandtl number whereas the former appears not to. In addition, we show how, in keeping with the findings of Cattaneo et al. (Cattaneo, F., Hughes, D.W. and Kim, E., “Suppression of chaos in a simplified nonlinear dynamo model”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2057–2060 ().), saturation of the growth of the magnetic field is brought about, for the originally chaotic flow, by a strong suppression of chaos.     

Convection in a rotating annulus having sidewalls of height-dependent thermal conductance

Abstract

Thermal convection in a vertically-mounted, rotating annulus of a particular design proposed by Davies and Walin (1977) is investigated. The annulus used in the present study differs from the conventional type in some important aspects: the sidewalls are finitely conducting, and the thermal conductance of the sidewalls is height-dependent. The theoretical model due to Davies and Walin is briefly recounted. The present study aims to verify the theoretical model; we have acquired numerical solutions to the governing Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical results are supportive of the theoretical contentions. The near-linear dependence of the isothermal slope on the parameter D, which is a function of Ω and ΔT, is corroborated within reasonable limits. New data on the vertical and radial structures of the meridional and azimuthal flows are presented. The numerical results also confirm that the shape of the sidewall thickness has a substantial influence on the meridional flow patterns. In the bulk of the interior flow field, the dominant azimuthal flow field and the temperature field are linked by the thermal wind relation.     

On simple models for simulation of nonlinear processes in convection and turbulence

The mechanism of nonlinear interaction in hydrodynamics is studied with dynamical systems having finite degrees of freedom. The equations are assumed to have the same integrals of motion and main features as those peculiar to hydrodynamical equations. The simplest system of this kind is a triplet (a system described by three parameters). Its equations of motion coincide with the Euler equations in the theory of the gyroscope. The forced motion of a triplet is treated theoretically. A real hydrodynamical system controlled by the equations of motion of a triplet was devised and verified in the laboratory.

The simplest theoretical model of baroclinic motion which provides a basis for studies of of forced heat convection in an ellipsoidal cavity was also constructed. Under certain conditions, the addition of rotation causes a regime of motion analogous to the Rossby regime in a rotating annulus.

More complicated models constructed from a large number of interacting triplets can simulate the cascade process of energy transformation in developed turbulence.     

Laboratory experiments in a baroclinic annulus with heating and cooling on the horizontal boundaries

Abstract

Experiments have been performed in a cylindrical annulus with horizontal temperature gradients imposed upon the horizontal boundaries and in which the vertical depth was smaller than the width of the annulus. Qualitative observations were made by the use of small, suspended, reflective flakes in the liquid (water).

Four basic regimes of flow were observed: (1) axisymmetric flow, (2) deep cellular convection, (3) boundary layer convective rolls, and (4) baroclinic waves. In some cases there was a mix of baroclinic and convective instabilities present. As a “mean” interior Richardson number was decreased from a value greater than unity to one less than zero, axisymmetric baroclinic instability of the Solberg type was never observed. Rather, the transition was from non-axisymmetric baroclinic waves, to a mix of baroclinic and convective instability, to irregular cellular convection.     

Dynamo in Asymmetric Square Convection

Linear and nonlinear dynamo action is investigated for square patterns in nonrotating and weakly rotating Boussinesq Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a plane horizontal layer. The square-pattern solutions may or may not be symmetric to up-down reflections. Vertically symmetric solutions correspond to checkerboard patterns. They do not possess a net kinetic helicity and are found to be incapable of kinematic dynamo action at least up to magnetic Reynolds numbers of , 12 000. There also exist vertically asymmetric squares, characterized by rising (descending) motion in the centers and descending (rising) motion near the boundaries, among them such that possess full horizontal square symmetry and others lacking also this symmetry. The flows lacking both the vertical and horizontal symmetries possess kinetic helicity and show kinematic dynamo action even without rotation. The generated magnetic fields are concentrated in vertically oriented filamentary structures. Without rotation these dynamos are, however, always only kinematic, not nonlinear dynamos since the back-reaction of the magnetic field then forces the solution into the basin of attraction of a roll pattern incapable of dynamo action. But with rotation added parameter regions are found where stationary asymmetric squares are also nonlinear dynamos. These nonlinear dynamos are characterized by a subtle balance between the Coriolis and Lorentz forces. In some parameter regions also nonlinear dynamos with flows in the form of oscillating squares or stationary modulated rolls are found.     

Convection in rotating annular channels heated from below. Part 2. Transitions from steady flow to turbulence

We report the results of fully three-dimensional numerical simulations of nonlinear convection in a Boussinesq fluid in an annular channel rotating about a vertical axis with lateral no-slip or stress-free sidewalls, stress-free top and bottom, uniformly heated from below, a problem first studied by Davies-Jones and Gilman (1971 Davies-Jones, RP and Gilman, PA. 1971. Convection in a rotating annulus uniformly heated from below.. J. Fluid Mech., 46: 65–81.  [Google Scholar]) and Gilman (1973 Gilman, PA. 1973. Convection in a rotating annulus uniformly heated from below. Part 2. Nonlinear results. J. Fluid Mech., 57: 381–400.  [Google Scholar]). A substantial range of the Rayleigh number R (R_c≤R≤O(100 R_c)), where R_c denotes the critical value at the onset of convection) is considered. It is found that the wall-localized convection mode, unaffected by the velocity boundary condition imposed on the sidewalls, is nonlinearly robust. Both directions of travelling waves, one propagating against the sense of rotation near the outer sidewall and the other propagating in the same sense as the rotation in the vicinity of the inner sidewall, are always present in the nonlinear solutions. In contrast to nonlinear convection in a rotating Bénard layer, neither convection rolls nor the Küpper–Lortz instability can exist in a rotating annular channel because of the effect of the sidewalls. It is the nonlinear interaction between the wall-localized modes and the internal mode that plays an essential role in determining the nonlinear properties of convection in a rotating annular channel. Our studies reveal systematically the various nonlinear phenomena, from steady travelling waves trapped in the vicinities of the sidewalls to convective turbulence exhibiting columnar structure.     

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Abstract

The thermally forced circulation of a stably stratified atmosphere in a valley is studied by aid of a simple numerical model. The model is based on the Boussinesq-equations for shallow convection. A diabatic heating is prescribed at slopes of the valley. To better understand the model's response to this heating the linearized basic equations are solved analytically and numerically for cases with highly idealized orography. The most conspicuous features of observed valley wind systems are represented in these solutions.

Next, numerical experiments with more complicated orography are described. The influence of the nonlinear terms and of the dissipative terms is considered. Various shapes of the valley and different localities of the heating are prescribed. It turns out that most of the computed features can be understood on the basis of the linear theory.     

Convection in a rotating magnetic system and Taylor's constraint

Abstract

A system is considered in which electrically conducting fluid is contained between two rigid horizontal planes and bounded laterally by a circular cylinder. The fluid is permeated by a strong azimuthal magnetic field. The strength of the field increases linearly with distance from the vertical axis of the cylinder, about which the entire system rotates rapidly. An unstable temperature gradient is maintained by heating the fluid from below and cooling from above. When viscosity and inertia are neglected, an arbitrary geostrophic velocity, which is aligned with the applied azimuthal magnetic field and independent of the axial coordinate, can be superimposed on the basic axisymmetric state. In this inviscid limit, the geostrophic velocity which occurs at the onset of convection is such that the net torque on geostrophic cylinders vanishes (Taylor's condition). The mathematical problem which describes the ensuing marginal convection is nonlinear, and was discussed previously for the planar case by Soward (1986). Here new features are isolated which result from the cylindrical geometry. New asymptotic solutions are derived valid when Taylor's condition is relaxed to include viscous effects.     

Finite amplitude instability thresholds in penetrative convection

Abstract

A nonlinear energy stability analysis is presented for the penetrative convection model of Veronis (1963). For top temperatures between 4°C and 8°C the nonlinear stability boundary obtained is very close to the linear one of Veronis and enables a region of possible sub-critical instabilities to be determined.     

Nonlinear modal analysis of penetrative convection

Abstract

The modal expansion procedure has been used to analyze penetrative convection that arises when a thin unstable layer is embedded between two stable regions. The Boussinesq approximation is applied in which the effect of compressibility and stratification are neglected. Various calculations have been made, with one and two modes, for Rayleigh numbers ranging from the critical value to more than 10⁵ times critical. The effect of decreasing the Prandtl number has also been investigated.

It is found that in the nonlinear regime, the convective motions penetrate substantially into the stable regions. The flux of kinetic energy plays a crucial role in such penetration, and its existence puts some requirements on the motions: in the single-mode case, they need to be three-dimensional. The extent of penetration amounts to about half of the thickness of the unstable layer on each side of it when the degree of instability and that of stability are comparable in the two domains; it increases as the stability of the outer region is lowered. The penetration depth appears to be independent of all other parameters defining the problem.     

An experimental investigation of convection in a rotating sphere subject to time varying thermal boundary conditions

Abstract

A series of experiments has been undertaken to investigate the onset of convection in a rapidly rotating fluid filled sphere. The boundary is subjected to a time varying temperature allowing the simulation of radial temperature profiles associated with internal heating. The system is similar to that treated theoretically by Roberts (1968), Busse (1970) and Soward (1977). It is found that Busse's modification of Roberts' linear analysis, taking into account velocity perturbations which are antisymmetric about the equatorial plane, provides a good estimate of the temperature gradient required to initiate convection. As observed in the experiments of Carrigan and Busse (1983) and predicted by linear theory, convection appears in the form of rolls or columns, aligned parallel to the rotation axis. As in earlier experiments, observed azimuthal wavenumbers are consistently smaller than predicted which we postulate to be a consequence of nonlinear effects. Owing to the presence of a centrifugally driven thermal wind, the predicted azimuthal drift of the rolls has not been observed.