2,245 research outputs found
Heat transport and flow structure in rotating Rayleigh-B\'enard convection
Here we summarize the results from our direct numerical simulations (DNS) and
experimental measurements on rotating Rayleigh-B\'enard (RB) convection. Our
experiments and simulations are performed in cylindrical samples with an aspect
ratio \Gamma varying from 1/2 to 2. Here \Gamma=D/L, where D and L are the
diameter and height of the sample, respectively. When the rotation rate is
increased, while a fixed temperature difference between the hot bottom and cold
top plate is maintained, a sharp increase in the heat transfer is observed
before the heat transfer drops drastically at stronger rotation rates. Here we
focus on the question of how the heat transfer enhancement with respect to the
non-rotating case depends on the Rayleigh number Ra, the Prandtl number Pr, and
the rotation rate, indicated by the Rossby number Ro. Special attention will be
given to the influence of the aspect ratio on the rotation rate that is
required to get heat transport enhancement. In addition, we will discuss the
relation between the heat transfer and the large scale flow structures that are
formed in the different regimes of rotating RB convection and how the different
regimes can be identified in experiments and simulations.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
Radial boundary layer structure and Nusselt number in Rayleigh-Benard convection
Results from direct numerical simulations for three dimensional
Rayleigh-Benard convection in a cylindrical cell of aspect ratio 1/2 and Pr=0.7
are presented. They span five decades of Ra from to . Good numerical resolution with grid spacing Kolmogorov
scale turns out to be crucial to accurately calculate the Nusselt number, which
is in good agreement with the experimental data by Niemela et al., Nature, 404,
837 (2000). In underresolved simulations the hot (cold) plumes travel further
from the bottom (top) plate than in the fully resolved case, because the
thermal dissipation close to the sidewall (where the grid cells are largest) is
insufficient. We compared the fully resolved thermal boundary layer profile
with the Prandtl-Blasius profile. We find that the boundary layer profile is
closer to the Prandtl Blasius profile at the cylinder axis than close to the
sidewall, due to rising plumes in that region.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Sidewall effects in Rayleigh-B\'enard convection
We investigate the influence of the temperature boundary conditions at the
sidewall on the heat transport in Rayleigh-B\'enard (RB) convection using
direct numerical simulations. For relatively low Rayleigh numbers Ra the heat
transport is higher when the sidewall is isothermal, kept at a temperature
(where is the temperature difference between the
horizontal plates and the temperature of the cold plate), than when the
sidewall is adiabatic. The reason is that in the former case part of the heat
current avoids the thermal resistance of the fluid layer by escaping through
the sidewall that acts as a short-circuit. For higher Ra the bulk becomes more
isothermal and this reduces the heat current through the sidewall. Therefore
the heat flux in a cell with an isothermal sidewall converges to the value
obtained with an adiabatic sidewall for high enough Ra ().
However, when the sidewall temperature deviates from the heat
transport at the bottom and top plates is different from the value obtained
using an adiabatic sidewall. In this case the difference does not decrease with
increasing Ra thus indicating that the ambient temperature of the experimental
apparatus can influence the heat transfer. A similar behavior is observed when
only a very small sidewall region close to the horizontal plates is kept
isothermal, while the rest of the sidewall is adiabatic. The reason is that in
the region closest to the horizontal plates the temperature difference between
the fluid and the sidewall is highest. This suggests that one should be careful
with the placement of thermal shields outside the fluid sample to minimize
spurious heat currents.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figure
Environmental effects of large impacts on the earth; relation to extinction mechanisms
Since Alvarez et al., discovered a worldwide approx. cm-thick layer of fine sediments laden with platinum group elements in approximately chondritic proportions exactly at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (C-T) boundary, and proposed bolide-impact as triggering mass extinctions, many have studied this hypothesis and the layer itself with its associated spherules and shocked quartz. At issue is whether the mass extinctions, and this horizon has an impact versus volcanic origin. A critical feature of the Alvarez hypothesis is the suggestion that the bolide or possibly a shower of objects delivered to the earth approx. 0.6 x 10 to the 18th power g of material which resulted in aerosol-sized ejecta such that global insolation was drastically reduced for significant periods. Such an event would lower temperatures on continents and halt photosynthesis in the upper 200 m of th eocean. The latter would strangle the marine food chain and thus produce the major marine faunal extinctions which mark the C-T boundary. Crucial issues examined include: What are the dynamics of atmospheric flow occurring upon impact of a large bolide with the earth; What is the size distributions of the very fine impact ejecta and how do these compare to the models of ejecta which are used to model the earth's radiative thermal balance. The flow field due to passage of a 10 km diameter bolide through an exponential atmosphere and the interaction of the gas flow and bolide with the solid ear was calculated. The CO2 released upon impact onto shallow marine carbonate sections was modeled and found that the mass of CO2 released exceeds the present 10 to the 18th power g CO2 budget of the earth's atmosphere by several times. Using the calculations of Kasting and Toon it was found that to compute the temperature rise of the earth's surface as a function of CO2 content, it was found that sudden and prolonged global increases are induced from impact of 20 to 50 km radius projectiles and propose that sudden terrestrial greenhouse-induced heating, not cooling, produced the highly variable extinctions seen at the C-T boundary
Knudsen gas provides nanobubble stability
We provide a model for the remarkable stability of surface nanobubbles to
bulk dissolution. The key to the solution is that the gas in a nanobubble is of
Knudsen type. This leads to the generation of a bulk liquid flow which
effectively forces the diffusive gas to remain local. Our model predicts the
presence of a vertical water jet immediately above a nanobubble, with an
estimated speed of , in good agreement with our
experimental atomic force microscopy measurement of . In
addition, our model also predicts an upper bound for the size of nanobubbles,
which is consistent with the available experimental data
Roughness-facilitated local 1/2 scaling does not imply the onset of the ultimate regime of thermal convection
In thermal convection, roughness is often used as a means to enhance heat
transport, expressed in Nusselt number. Yet there is no consensus on whether
the Nusselt vs. Rayleigh number scaling exponent () increases or remains unchanged. Here we numerically
investigate turbulent Rayleigh-B\'enard convection over rough plates in two
dimensions, up to . Varying the height and wavelength of
the roughness elements with over 200 combinations, we reveal the existence of
two universal regimes. In the first regime, the local effective scaling
exponent can reach up to 1/2. However, this cannot be explained as the
attainment of the so-called ultimate regime as suggested in previous studies,
because a further increase in leads to the second regime, in
which the scaling saturates back to a value close to the smooth case.
Counterintuitively, the transition from the first to the second regime
corresponds to the competition between bulk and boundary layer flow: from the
bulk-dominated regime back to the classical boundary-layer-controlled regime.
Our study clearly demonstrates that the local scaling does not signal the
onset of asymptotic ultimate thermal convection.Comment: Submitted, 11 pages, 5figur
Pharmaceutically modified subtilisins withstand acidic conditions and effectively degrade gluten in vivo
Detoxification of gluten immunogenic epitopes is a promising strategy for the treatment of celiac disease. Our previous studies have shown that these epitopes can be degraded in vitro by subtilisin enzymes derived from Rothia mucilaginosa, a natural microbial colonizer of the oral cavity. The challenge is that the enzyme is not optimally active under acidic conditions as encountered in the stomach. We therefore aimed to protect and maintain subtilisin-A enzyme activity by exploring two pharmaceutical modification techniques: PEGylation and Polylactic glycolic acid (PLGA) microencapsulation. PEGylation of subtilisin-A (Sub-A) was performed by attaching methoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG, 5 kDa). The PEGylation protected subtilisin-A from autolysis at neutral pH. The PEGylated Sub-A (Sub-A-mPEG) was further encapsulated by PLGA. The microencapsulated Sub-A-mPEG-PLGA showed significantly increased protection against acid exposure in vitro. In vivo, gluten immunogenic epitopes were decreased by 60% in the stomach of mice fed with chow containing Sub-A-mPEG-PLGA (0.2mg Sub-A/ g chow) (n=9) compared to 31.9 % in mice fed with chow containing unmodified Sub-A (n=9). These results show that the developed pharmaceutical modification can protect Sub-A from auto-digestion as well as from acid inactivation, thus rendering the enzyme more effective for applications in vivo.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6522598/Published versio
Drop impact on superheated surfaces
At impact of a liquid droplet on a smooth surface heated above the liquid's
boiling point, the droplet either immediately boils when it contacts the
surfaces (``contact boiling''), or without any surface contact forms a
Leidenfrost vapor layer towards the hot surface and bounces back (``gentle film
boiling''), or both forms the Leidenfrost layer and ejects tiny droplets upward
(``spraying film boiling''). We experimentally determine conditions under which
impact behaviors in each regime can be realized. We show that the dimensionless
maximum spreading of impacting droplets on the heated surfaces in both
gentle and spraying film boiling regimes shows a universal scaling with the
Weber number \We (\gamma\sim\We^{2/5}) -- regardless of surface temperature
and of liquid properties -- which is much steeper than for the impact on
non-heated (hydrophilic or hydrophobic) surfaces (\gamma\sim\We^{1/4}). We
also intereferometrically measure the vapor thickness under the droplet
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