NUMERICAL STUDIES OF TRANSITION FROM STEADY TO UNSTEADY COUPLED THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYERS

Abstract

The transition from the steady to the unsteady coupled thermal boundary layers around a partition in a differentially heated partitioned cavity is investigated numerically. The partitioned cavity is filled with water, which is imposed a temperature difference between the two sidewalls of the cavity. The numerical results are consistent with the corresponding experiments. The development of the unsteady coupled thermal boundary layers following a sudden temperature difference between the fluids at the two sides of the partition at a high Rayleigh number of Ra = 1011 is described. The transition from the steady to the unsteady coupled thermal boundary layers over a wide range of Rayleigh numbers from Ra = 109 to 1011 is observed. The dependence of traveling waves in the unsteady coupled thermal boundary layers on the Rayleigh number and heat transfer through the partitioned cavity are characterized and quantified.