Time-Periodic Cooling of Rayleigh–Bénard Convection

Abstract

The problem of Rayleigh–Bénard’s natural convection subjected to a temporally periodic cooling condition is solved numerically by the Lattice Boltzmann method with multiple relaxation time (LBM-MRT). The study finds its interest in the field of thermal comfort where current knowledge has gaps in the fundamental phenomena requiring their exploration. The Boussinesq approximation is considered in the resolution of the physical problem studied for a Rayleigh number taken in the range 103 ≤ Ra ≤ 106 with a Prandtl number equal to 0.71 (air as working fluid). The physical phenomenon is also controlled by the amplitude of periodic cooling where, for small values of the latter, the results obtained follow a periodic evolution around an average corresponding to the formulation at a constant cold temperature. When the heating amplitude increases, the physical phenomenon is disturbed, the stream functions become mainly multicellular and an aperiodic evolution is obtained for the heat transfer illustrated by the average Nusselt number.