Vinodh Bandaru

Transitional boundary layers in low-Prandtl-number convection

The boundary layer structure of the velocity and temperature fields in turbulent Rayleigh-Benard flows in closed cylindrical cells of unit aspect ratio is revisited from a transitional and turbulent viscous boundary layer perspective. When the Rayleigh number is large enough, the dynamics at the bottom and top plates can be separated into an impact region of downwelling plumes, an ejection region of upwelling plumes and an interior region away from the side walls. The latter is dominated by the shear of the large-scale circulation (LSC) roll which fills the whole cell and continuously varies its orientation. The working fluid is liquid mercury or gallium at a Prandtl number Pr=0.021 for Rayleigh numbers between Ra=3e+5 and 4e+8. The generated turbulent momentum transfer corresponds to macroscopic flow Reynolds numbers with values between 1800 and 46000. It is shown that the viscous boundary layers for the largest Rayleigh numbers are highly transitional and obey properties that are directly comparable to transitional channel flows at friction Reynolds numbers Re_tau slightly below 100. The transitional character of the viscous boundary layer is also underlined by the strong enhancement of the fluctuations of the wall stress components with increasing Rayleigh number. An extrapolation of our analysis data suggests that the friction Reynolds number Re_tau in the velocity boundary layer can reach values of 200 for Ra beyond 1e+11. Thus the viscous boundary layer in a liquid metal flow would become turbulent at a much lower Rayleigh number than for turbulent convection in gases and gas mixtures.

A hybrid finite difference-boundary element procedure for the simulation of turbulent MHD duct flow at finite magnetic Reynolds number

A conservative coupled finite difference-boundary element computational procedure for the simulation of turbulent magnetohydrodynamic flow in a straight rectangular duct at finite magnetic Reynolds number is presented. The flow is assumed to be periodic in the streamwise direction and is driven by a mean pressure gradient. The duct walls are considered to be electrically insulated. The co-evolution of the velocity and magnetic fields as described respectively by the Navier-Stokes and the magnetic induction equations, together with the coupling of the magnetic field between the conducting domain and the non-conducting exterior, is solved using the magnetic field formulation. The aim is to simulate localized magnetic fields interacting with turbulent duct flow. Detailed verification of the implementation of the numerical scheme is conducted in the limiting case of low magnetic Reynolds number by comparing with the results obtained using a quasistatic approach that has no coupling with the exterior. The rigorous procedure with non-local magnetic boundary conditions is compared with simplified pseudo-vacuum boundary conditions and the differences are quantified. Our first direct numerical simulations of turbulent Hartmann duct flow at moderate magnetic Reynolds numbers and a low flow Reynolds number show significant differences in the duct flow turbulence, even at low interaction level between the flow and magnetic field.

Simulation of flux expulsion and associated dynamics in a two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic channel flow

We consider a plane channel flow of an electrically conducting fluid which is driven by a mean pressure gradient in the presence of an applied magnetic field that is streamwise periodic with zero mean. Magnetic flux expulsion and the associated bifurcation in such a configuration are explored using direct numerical simulations (DNS). The structure of the flow and magnetic fields in the Hartmann regime (where the dominant balance is through Lorentz forces) and the Poiseuille regime (where viscous effects play a significant role) are studied, and detailed comparisons to the existing one-dimensional model of Kamkar and Moffatt (J Fluid Mech 90:107–122, 1982) are drawn to evaluate the validity of the model. Comparisons show good agreement of the model with DNS in the Hartmann regime, but significant differences arising in the Poiseuille regime when nonlinear effects become important. The effects of various parameters like the magnetic Reynolds number, imposed field wavenumber etc. on the bifurcation of the flow are studied. Magnetic field line reconnections occurring during the dynamic runaway reveal a specific two-step pattern that leads to the gradual expulsion of flux in the core region.

Role of critical points of the skin friction field in formation of plumes in thermal convection.

The dynamics in the thin boundary layers of temperature and velocity is the key to a deeper understanding of turbulent transport of heat and momentum in thermal convection. The velocity gradient at the hot and cold plates of a Rayleigh-Bénard convection cell forms the two-dimensional skin friction field and is related to the formation of thermal plumes in the respective boundary layers. Our analysis is based on a direct numerical simulation of Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a closed cylindrical cell of aspect ratio Γ=1 and focused on the critical points of the skin friction field. We identify triplets of critical points, which are composed of two unstable nodes and a saddle between them, as the characteristic building block of the skin friction field. Isolated triplets as well as networks of triplets are detected. The majority of the ridges of linelike thermal plumes coincide with the unstable manifolds of the saddles. From a dynamical Lagrangian perspective, thermal plumes are formed together with an attractive hyperbolic Lagrangian coherent structure of the skin friction field. We also discuss the differences from the skin friction field in turbulent channel flows from the perspective of the Poincaré-Hopf index theorem for two-dimensional vector fields.

Lorentz Force Transient Response at Finite Magnetic Reynolds Numbers

In this paper, we investigate the transient response of Lorentz force at finite magnetic Reynolds numbers Rm on an electrically conducting rectangular bar that is strongly accelerated in the presence of a localized magnetic field. This is done through numerical simulations utilizing a coupled finite-difference boundary element approach. The results show good qualitative agreement with existing experiments with a circular cylinder. The Lorentz force rise time is seen to be a linear function of Rm. The linear dependence of Lorentz force on Rm is found to be valid only for low values of Rm, after which the slope decays leading to an apparent saturation in the Lorentz force at sufficiently large values of Rm. Our results provide important information for the development of Lorentz force flow meters for transient flow applications.