The Persistent Clock of Turbulent Thermal Convection

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Martínez-Ortíz, Lázaro, Lemm, Youri H., Clercx, Herman J. H., Kunnen, Rudie P. J.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866914198119776256
author Martínez-Ortíz, Lázaro
Lemm, Youri H.
Clercx, Herman J. H.
Kunnen, Rudie P. J.
author_facet Martínez-Ortíz, Lázaro
Lemm, Youri H.
Clercx, Herman J. H.
Kunnen, Rudie P. J.
contents The large-scale circulation (LSC) of turbulent convection is a prominent feature of its dynamics and forms the basis for descriptive theories. We show, using experimental and numerical results from thermal convection in a cylindrical cell, that the LSC possesses a persistent internal `clock': its pulsating velocity as a function of time is described by a constant value of the parameter U/(lf) where U is the mean velocity, f the pulsation frequency, and l the characteristic length scale. By introducing a narrow sidewall barrier, we can trip the LSC, forming a pair of interconnected rolls stacked above and below the barrier. They independently exhibit the same value for the ratio U/(lf), even for vertically asymmetric pairs, indicating signs of synchrony. Thus, this parameter establishes a direct connection between plume-shedding dynamics and the flow topology.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_11669
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Persistent Clock of Turbulent Thermal Convection
Martínez-Ortíz, Lázaro
Lemm, Youri H.
Clercx, Herman J. H.
Kunnen, Rudie P. J.
Fluid Dynamics
The large-scale circulation (LSC) of turbulent convection is a prominent feature of its dynamics and forms the basis for descriptive theories. We show, using experimental and numerical results from thermal convection in a cylindrical cell, that the LSC possesses a persistent internal `clock': its pulsating velocity as a function of time is described by a constant value of the parameter U/(lf) where U is the mean velocity, f the pulsation frequency, and l the characteristic length scale. By introducing a narrow sidewall barrier, we can trip the LSC, forming a pair of interconnected rolls stacked above and below the barrier. They independently exhibit the same value for the ratio U/(lf), even for vertically asymmetric pairs, indicating signs of synchrony. Thus, this parameter establishes a direct connection between plume-shedding dynamics and the flow topology.
title The Persistent Clock of Turbulent Thermal Convection
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.11669