arXiv subjects

Ke-Qing Xia

Publications and source records attributed to Ke-Qing Xia.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Confined Rayleigh-Bénard, Rotating Rayleigh-Bénard, and Double Diffusive Convection: A unifying view on turbulent transport enhancement through coherent structure manipulation

Many natural and engineering systems are simultaneously subjected to a driving force and a stabilizing force. The interplay between the two forces, especially for highly nonlinear systems such as fluid flow, often results in surprising features. Here we reveal such features in three different types of Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection, i.e. buoyancy-driven flow with the fluid density being affected by a scalar field. In the three cases different {\it stabilizing forces} are considered, namely (i) horizontal confinement, (ii) rotation around a vertical axis, and (iii) a second stabilizing scalar field. Despite the very different nature of the stabilizing forces and the corresponding equations of motion, at moderate strength we counterintuitively but consistently observe an {\it enhancement} in the flux, even though the flow motion is weaker than the original RB flow. The flux enhancement occurs in an intermediate regime in which the stabilizing force is strong enough to alter the flow structures in the bulk to a more organised morphology, yet not too strong to severely suppress the flow motions. Near the optimal transport enhancements all three systems exhibit a transition from a state in which the thermal boundary layer (BL) is nested inside the momentum BL to the one with the thermal BL being thicker than the momentum BL.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2015

Dynamics and flow-coupling in two-layer turbulent thermal convection

We present an experimental investigation of the dynamics and flow-coupling of convective turbulent flows in a cylindrical Rayleigh-Benard convection cell with two immiscible fluids, water and fluorinert FC-77 electronic liquid (FC77). It is found that one large-scale circulation (LSC) roll exists in each of the fluid layers, and that their circulation planes have two preferred azimuthal orientations separated by $\simπ$. A surprising finding of the study is that cessations/reversals of the LSC in FC77 of the two-layer system occur much more frequently than they do in single-layer turbulent RBC, and that a cessation is most likely to result in a flow reversal of the LSC, which is in sharp contrast with the uniform distribution of the orientational angular change of the LSC before and after cessations in single-layer turbulent RBC. This implies that the dynamics governing cessations and reversals in the two systems are very different. Two coupling modes, thermal coupling (flow directions of the two LSCs are opposite to each other at the fluid-fluid interface) and viscous coupling (flow directions of the two LSCs are the same at the fluid-fluid interface), are identified with the former one as the predominant mode. That most cessations (in the FC77 layer) end up as reversals can be understood as a symmetry breaking imposed by the orientation of the LSC in the water layer, which remained unchanged most of the time. Furthermore, the frequently occurring cessations and reversals are caused by the system switching between its two metastable states, i.e. thermal and viscous coupling modes. It is also observed that the strength of the LSC in water becomes weaker when the LSC in FC77 rotates faster azimuthally and that the flow strength in FC77 becomes stronger when the LSC in water rotates faster azimuthally, i.e. the influence of the LSC in one fluid layer on the other is not symmetric.

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arXiv2015

Effects of polymer additives in the bulk of turbulent thermal convection

We present experimental evidence that a minute amount of polymer additives can significantly enhance heat transport in the bulk region of turbulent thermal convection. The effects of polymer additives are found to be the \textit{suppression} of turbulent background fluctuations that give rise to incoherent heat fluxes that make no net contribution to heat transport, and at the same time to \textit{increase} the coherency of temperature and velocity fields. The suppression of small-scale turbulent fluctuations leads to more coherent thermal plumes that result in the heat transport enhancement. The fact that polymer additives can increase the coherency of thermal plumes is supported by the measurements of a number of local quantities, such as the extracted plume amplitude and width, the velocity autocorrelation functions and the velocity-temperature cross-correlation coefficient. The results from local measurements also suggest the existence of a threshold value for the polymer concentration, only above which can significant modification of the plume coherent properties and enhancement of the local heat flux be observed. Estimation of the plume emission rate suggests that the second effect of polymer additives is to stabilize the thermal boundary layers.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Viscous boundary layer properties in turbulent thermal convection in a cylindrical cell: the effect of cell tilting

We report an experimental study of the properties of the velocity boundary layer in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a cylindrical cell. The measurements were made at Rayleigh numbers $Ra$ in the range $2.8\times10^{8}<Ra<5.6\times10^{9}$ and were conducted with the convection cell tilted with an angle $θ$ relative to gravity, at $θ=0.5^{o}$, $1.0^{o}$, $2.0^{o}$, and $3.4^{o}$, respectively. The fluid was water with Prandtl number $Pr=5.3$. It is found that at small tilt angles ($θ\le 1^{o}$), the measured viscous boundary layer thickness $δ_{v}$ scales with the Reynolds number $Re$ with an exponent close to that for a Prandtl-Blasius laminar boundary layer, i.e. $δ_{v} \sim Re^{-0.46\pm0.03}$. For larger tilt angles, the scaling exponent of $δ_{v}$ with $Re$ decreases with $θ$. The normalized mean horizontal velocity profiles measured at the same tilt angle but with different $Ra$ are found to have an invariant shape. But for different tilt angles, the shape of the normalized profiles is different. It is also found that the Reynolds number $Re$ based on the maximum mean horizontal velocity scales with $Ra$ as $Re \sim Ra^{0.43}$ and the Reynolds number $Re_σ$ based on the maximum rms velocity scales with $Ra$ as $Re_σ \sim Ra^{0.55}$, with both exponents do not seem to depend on the tilt angle $θ$. We also examined the dynamical scaling method proposed bys Zhou and Xia [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 104301 (2010)] and found that in both the laboratory and the dynamical frames the mean velocity profiles show deviations from the theoretical Prandtl-Blasius profile, with the deviations increase with $Ra$. But profiles obtained from dynamical scaling in general have better agreement with the theoretical profile. It is also found that the effectiveness of this method appears to be independent of $Ra$.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

On the Kolmogorov Constants for the Second-Order Structure Function and the Energy Spectrum

We examine the behavior of the Kolmogorov constants C_2, C_k, and C_{k1}, which are, respectively, the prefactors of the second order longitudinal structure function, the three dimensional and one-dimensional longitudinal energy spectrum in the inertial range. We show that their ratios, C_2/C_{k1} and C_k/C_{k1}, exhibit clear dependence on the micro-scale Reynolds number R_λ, implying that they cannot all be independent of R_λ. In particular, it is found that (C_{k1}/C_2-0.25) = 1.95R_λ^{-0.68}. The study further reveals that the widely-used relation C_2 = 4.02 C_{k1} holds only asymptotically when R_λ <= 10^5. It is also found that C_2 has much stronger R_λ-dependence than either C_k, or C_{k1} if the latter indeed has a systematic dependence on R_λ. We further show that the variable dependence on R_λ of these three numbers can be attributed to the difference of the inertial range in real- and wavenumber-space, with inertial range in real-space known to be much shorter than that in wavenumber space.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Experimental investigation of pair dispersion with small initial separation in convective turbulent flows

We report an experimental investigation of pair dispersions in turbulent thermal convection with initial separation r0 ranging from sub-Kolmogorov scale to scales in the inertial range. In the dissipative range of scales we observed for the first time in experiment the exponential growth of the separation between a pair of particles predicted by Batchelor and obtained a Batchelor constant 0.23\pm0.07. For large r0, it is found that, for almost all time range, both the mean-square separation and distance neighbor function exhibit the forms predicted by Batchelor, whereas the two quantities agree with Richardson's predictions for small r0. Moreover, the measured value of the Richardson constant g = 0.10 \pm 0.07, which is smaller than those found in other turbulence systems. We also demonstrate the crossover of the mean-square separation from the exponential to the Batchelor regimes in both temporal and spatial scales.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Thermal boundary layer profiles in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a cylindrical sample

We numerically investigate the structures of the near-plate temperature profiles close to the bottom and top plates of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard flow in a cylindrical sample at Rayleigh numbers Ra=10^8 to Ra=2\times10^{12} and Prandtl numbers Pr=6.4 and Pr=0.7 with the dynamical frame method [Q. Zhou and K.-Q. Xia, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 104301 (2010)] thus extending previous results for quasi-2-dimensional systems to 3D systems for the first time. The dynamical frame method shows that the measured temperature profiles in the spatially and temporally local frame are much closer to the temperature profile of a laminar, zero-pressure gradient boundary layer according to Pohlhausen than in the fixed reference frame. The deviation between the measured profiles in the dynamical reference frame and the laminar profiles increases with decreasing Pr, where the thermal BL is more exposed to the bulk fluctuations due to the thinner kinetic BL, and increasing Ra, where more plumes are passing the measurement location.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2011

Horizontal Structures of Velocity and Temperature Boundary Layers in 2D Numerical Turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard Convection

We investigate the structures of the near-plate velocity and temperature profiles at different horizontal positions along the conducting bottom (and top) plate of a Rayleigh-Bénard convection cell, using two-dimensional (2D) numerical data obtained at the Rayleigh number Ra=10^8 and the Prandtl number Pr=4.4 of an Oberbeck-Boussinesq flow with constant material parameters. The results show that most of the time, and for both velocity and temperature, the instantaneous profiles scaled by the dynamical frame method [Q. Zhou and K.-Q. Xia, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 104301 (2010) agree well with the classical Prandtl-Blasius laminar boundary layer (BL) profiles. Therefore, when averaging in the dynamical reference frames, which fluctuate with the respective instantaneous kinematic and thermal BL thicknesses, the obtained mean velocity and temperature profiles are also of Prandtl-Blasius type for nearly all horizontal positions. We further show that in certain situations the traditional definitions based on the time-averaged profiles can lead to unphysical BL thicknesses, while the dynamical method also in such cases can provide a well-defined BL thickness for both the kinematic and the thermal BLs.

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arXiv2011

Flow reversals in thermally driven turbulence

We analyze the reversals of the large scale flow in Rayleigh-Bénard convection both through particle image velocimetry flow visualization and direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the underlying Boussinesq equations in a (quasi) two-dimensional, rectangular geometry of aspect ratio 1. For medium Prandtl number there is a diagonal large scale convection roll and two smaller secondary rolls in the two remaining corners diagonally opposing each other. These corner flow rolls play a crucial role for the large scale wind reversal: They grow in kinetic energy and thus also in size thanks to plume detachments from the boundary layers up to the time that they take over the main, large scale diagonal flow, thus leading to reversal. Based on this mechanism we identify a typical time scale for the reversals. We map out the Rayleigh number vs Prandtl number phase space and find that the occurrence of reversals very sensitively depends on these parameters.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2011

Disentangle plume-induced anisotropy in the velocity field in buoyancy-driven turbulence

We present a method of disentangling the anisotropies produced by the cliff structures in turbulent velocity field and test it in the system of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection. It is found that in the RB system the cliff structures in the velocity field are generated by thermal plumes. These cliff structures induce asymmetry in the velocity increments, which leads us to consider the plus and minus velocity structure functions (VSF). The plus velocity increments exclude cliff structures, while the minus ones include them. Our results show that the scaling exponents of the plus VSFs are in excellent agreement with those predicted for homogeneous and isotropic turbulence (HIT), whereas those of the minus VSFs exhibit significant deviations from HIT expectations in places where thermal plumes abound. These results demonstrate that plus and minus VSFs can be used to quantitatively study the effect of cliff structures in the velocity field and to effectively disentangle the associated anisotropies caused by these structures.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Measured Instantaneous Viscous Boundary Layer in Turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard Convection

We report measurements of the instantaneous viscous boundary layer (BL) thickness $δ_v(t)$ in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection. It is found that $δ_v(t)$ obtained from the measured instantaneous two-dimensional velocity field exhibits intermittent fluctuations. For small values, $δ_v(t)$ obeys a lognormal distribution, whereas for large values the distribution of $δ_v(t)$ exhibits an exponential tail. The variation of $δ_v(t)$ with time is found to be driven by the fluctuations of the large-scale mean flow velocity and the local horizontal velocities close to the plate can be used as an instant measure of this variation. It is further found that in the present parameter range of the experiment the mean velocity profile measured in the laboratory frame can be brought into coincidence with the theoretical Prandtl-Blasius laminar BL profile, if it is resampled relative to the time-dependent frame of $δ_v(t)$.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Statistical and geometrical properties of thermal plumes in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

We present a systematic experimental study of geometric and statistical properties of thermal plumes in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection using the thermochromic-liquid-crystal (TLC) technique. The experiments were performed in three water-filled cylindrical convection cells with aspect ratios 2, 1, and 0.5 and over the Rayleigh-number range $5\times10^7 \leq Ra \leq 10^{11}$. TLC thermal images of horizontal plane cuts at various depths below the top plate were acquired. Three-dimensional images of thermal plumes were then reconstructed from the two-dimensional slices of the temperature field. The results show that the often-called sheetlike plumes are really one-dimensional structures and may be called rodlike plumes. We find that the number densities for both sheetlike/rodlike and mushroomlike plumes have power-law dependence on $Ra$ with scaling exponents of $\sim 0.3$, which is close to that between the Nusselt number $Nu$ and $Ra$. This result suggests that it is the plume number that primarily d ermines the scaling exponent of the $Nu$-$Ra$ scaling relation. The evolution of the aspect ratio of sheetlike/rodlike plumes reveals that as $Ra$ increases the plume geometry changes from more-elongated to less-elongated. Our study of the plume area fraction (fraction of coverage over the surface of the plate) further reveals that the increased plume numbers with $Ra$ mainly comes from increased plume emission, rather than fragmentation of plumes. In addition, the area, perimeter, and the shape complexity of the two-dimensional horizontal cuts of sheetlike/rodlike plumes were studied and all are found to obey log-normal distributions.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Prandtl-Blasius temperature and velocity boundary layer profiles in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

The shape of velocity and temperature profiles near the horizontal conducting plates in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection are studied numerically and experimentally over the Rayleigh number range $10^8\lesssim Ra\lesssim3\times10^{11}$ and the Prandtl number range $0.7\lesssim Pr\lesssim5.4$. The results show that both the temperature and velocity profiles well agree with the classical Prandtl-Blasius laminar boundary-layer profiles, if they are re-sampled in the respective dynamical reference frames that fluctuate with the instantaneous thermal and velocity boundary-layer thicknesses.

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arXiv2008

Origin of the Temperature Oscillation in Turbulent Thermal Convection

We report an experimental study of the three-dimensional spatial structure of the low frequency temperature oscillations in a cylindrical Rayleigh-Bénard convection cell. It is found that thermal plumes are not emitted periodically, but randomly and continuously, from the top and bottom plates. We further found that the oscillation of the temperature field does not originate from the boundary layers, but rather is a result of the horizontal motion of the hot ascending and cold descending fluids being modulated by the twisting and sloshing motion of the bulk flow field.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2008

Oscillations of the large-scale circulation in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection: the off-center mode and its relationship with the torsional mode

We report an experimental study of the large-scale circulation (LSC) in a turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection cell with aspect ratio unity. The temperature-extremum-extraction (TEE) method for obtaining the dynamic information of the LSC is presented. With this method, the azimuthal angular positions of the hot ascending and cold descending flows along the sidewall are identified from the measured instantaneous azimuthal temperature profile. The motion of the LSC is then decomposed into two different modes: the azimuthal mode and the translational or off-center mode. Comparing to the previous sinusoidal-fitting (SF) method, it is found that both methods give the same information about the azimuthal motion of the LSC, but the TEE method in addition can provide information about the off-center motion of the LSC, which is found to oscillate time-periodically around the cell's central vertical axis with an amplitude being nearly independent of the turbulent intensity. It is further found that the azimuthal angular positions of the hot ascending flow near the bottom plate and the cold descending flow near the top plate oscillate periodically out of phase by $π$, leading to the torsional mode of the LSC. These oscillations are then propagated vertically along the sidewall by the hot ascending and cold descending fluids. When they reach the mid-height plane, the azimuthal positions of the hottest and coldest fluids again oscillate out of phase by $π$. It is this out-of-phase horizontal positional oscillation of the hottest and coldest fluids at the same horizontal plane that produces the off-center oscillation of the LSC. A direct velocity measurement further confirms the existence of the bulk off-center mode of the flow field near cell center.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2008

Comparative experimental study of local mixing of active and passive scalars in turbulent thermal convection

We investigate experimentally the statistical properties of active and passive scalar fields in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in water, at $Ra\sim10^{10}$. Both the local concentration of fluorescence dye and the local temperature are measured near the sidewall of a rectangular cell. It is found that, although they are advected by the same turbulent flow, the two scalars distribute differently. This difference is twofold, i.e. both the quantities themselves and their small-scale increments have different distributions. Our results show that there is a certain buoyant scale based on time domain, i.e. the Bolgiano time scale $t_B$, above which buoyancy effects are significant. Above $t_B$, temperature is active and is found to be more intermittent than concentration, which is passive. This suggests that the active scalar possesses a higher level of intermittency in turbulent thermal convection. It is further found that the mixing of both scalar fields are isotropic for scales larger than $t_B$ even though buoyancy acts on the fluid in the vertical direction. Below $t_B$, temperature is passive and is found to be more anisotropic than concentration. But this higher degree of anisotropy is attributed to the higher diffusivity of temperature over that of concentration. From the simultaneous measurements of temperature and concentration, it is shown that two scalars have similar autocorrelation functions and there is a strong and positive correlation between them.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2007

Measured oscillations of the velocity and temperature fields in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a rectangular cell

Temperature and velocity oscillations have been found in a rectangular Rayleigh-Bénard convection cell, in which one large scale convection roll exists. At $Ra=8.9 \times 10^{11}$ and $Pr=4$, temperature oscillation can be observed in most part of the system and the oscillation period remains almost constant, $t_T = 74 \pm 2$ seconds. Velocity oscillation can only be found in its horizontal component, $v_y$ (perpendicular to large scale circulation plane), near the cell sidewall, its oscillation period is also constant, $t_T = 65 \pm 2$ seconds, at these positions. Temperature and velocity oscillations have different Ra dependence, which are respectively indicated by Peclect number $Pe_T = 0.55Ra^{0.47}$ and $Pe_v = 0.28Ra^{0.50}$ . In comparison to the case of cylindrical cell, we find that the velocity oscillation is affected by the system geometry.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2003

Extraction of Plumes in Turbulent Thermal Convection

We present a scheme to extract information about plumes, a prominent coherent structure in turbulent thermal convection, from simultaneous local velocity and temperature measurements. Using this scheme, we study the temperature dependence of the plume velocity and understand the results using the equations of motion. We further obtain the average local heat flux in the vertical direction at the cell center. Our result shows that heat is not mainly transported through the central region but instead through the regions near the sidewalls of the convection cell.

nlin.CD↗