Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T00:21:37.353Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The oscillatory motions of Rayleigh convection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

G. E. Willis  and
J. W. Deardorff
G. E. Willis
Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
J. W. Deardorff
Affiliation:
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Photographs and simultaneous temperature measurements show that the thermal oscillations which occur in air between horizontal plates with unstable stratification are associated with lateral oscillations of wavy convection rolls. The phenomenon appears to consist of an oscillating motion nearly independent of depth superimposed upon the convective motions, and is best viewed from above. For large Prandtl number the photographic evidence suggests that the first unsteady motions to occur consist of a very similar oscillation, except that the features which oscillate are updraft and downdraft lines of short length. The periods of the oscillations obtained visually agree well with those reported previously from fixed temperature measurements, and a weak oscillation of doubled frequency is explained.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , 16 December 1970 , pp. 661 - 672
Copyright
© 1970 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Calder, K. L. 1958 Technical Study 13, Biological Warfare Lab. Available from ASTIA.
Chandra, K. 1938 Proc. Roy. Soc. A 164, 231–42.
Howard, L. N. 1966 In Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress on Applied Mechanics, p. 1109–15. Berlin: Springer.
Krishnamurti, R. 1970 J. Fluid Mech. 42, 30.
Rossby, T. 1966 Dept. of Geology and Geophysics M.I.T. Sci. Report HRF/SR27.
Welander, P. 1967 J. Fluid Mech. 29, 17–30.
Willis, G. E. & Deardorff, J. W. 1965 Phys. Fluids, 8, 225–9.
Willis, G. E. & Deardorff, J. W. 1967 Phys. Fluids, 10, 931–7.