7,383 research outputs found
Optimal Prandtl number for heat transfer in rotating Rayleigh-Benard convection
Numerical data for the heat transfer as a function of the Prandtl (Pr) and
Rossby (Ro) numbers in turbulent rotating Rayleigh-Benard convection are
presented for Rayleigh number Ra = 10^8. When Ro is fixed the heat transfer
enhancement with respect to the non-rotating value shows a maximum as function
of Pr. This maximum is due to the reduced efficiency of Ekman pumping when Pr
becomes too small or too large. When Pr becomes small, i.e. for large thermal
diffusivity, the heat that is carried by the vertical vortices spreads out in
the middle of the cell, and Ekman pumping thus becomes less efficient. For
higher Pr the thermal boundary layers (BLs) are thinner than the kinetic BLs
and therefore the Ekman vortices do not reach the thermal BL. This means that
the fluid that is sucked into the vertical vortices is colder than for lower Pr
which limits the efficiency of the upwards heat transfer.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Morphology Development in Model Polyethylene via Two-Dimensional Correlation Analysis
Two-dimensional (2D) correlation analysis is applied to synchrotron X-ray scattering data to characterize
morphological regimes during nonisothermal crystallization of a model ethylene copolymer (hydrogenated polybutadiene,
HPBD). The 2D correlation patterns highlight relationships
among multiple characteristics of structure evolution, particularly the extent to which separate features change simultaneously versus sequentially. By visualizing these relationships during cooling, evidence is obtained for two separate physical processes occurring in what is known as “irreversible crystallization” in random ethylene copolymers. Initial growth of primarily lamellae into unconstrained melt (“primary-irreversible crystallization”) is distinguished from subsequent secondary lamellae formation in the constrained, noncrystalline regions
between the primary lamellae (“secondary-irreversible crystallization”). At successively lower temperatures (“reversible crystallization”), growth of the crystalline reflections is found to occur simultaneously with the change in shape of the amorphous halo, which is inconsistent with the formation of an additional phase. Rather, the synchronous character supports the view that growth of frustrated crystals distorts the adjacent noncrystalline material. Furthermore, heterocorrelation analysis of small-angle and wideangle X-ray scattering data from the reversible crystallization regime reveals that the size of new crystals is consistent with fringedmicellar structures (~9 nm). Thus, 2D correlation analysis provides new insights into morphology development in polymeric systems
Alterations of the CARD15/NOD2 gene and the impact on management and treatment of Crohn's disease patients
The recent identification of the CARD15/NOD2 gene as a susceptibility locus for Crohn's disease represents an important step towards the delineation of the immuno-pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. CARD15 functions as an intracellular receptor for bacterial components and thus represents an important link between inflammatory bowel disease and innate immunity. Three major CARD15/NOD2 gene mutations have been associated with Crohn's disease in Caucasians in several independent studies. Together, they explain about 20% of the genetic susceptibility for Crohn's disease. Genotype-phenotype analyses demonstrated an association of these mutations with ileum-specific disease, an increased incidence of the fibrostenotic phenotype and an earlier age of disease onset. Beside these associations, no other relationship between the CARD15/NOD2 genotype and disease behavior or response to treatment has been detailed so far. Thus, the clinical impact of knowing the patient's genotype is limited at this time. Screening for CARD15 mutations in order to identify high-risk individuals or to introduce an individualized disease management is therefore currently not recommended. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel
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
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
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
Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq effects in two-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard convection in glycerol
We numerically analyze Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq (NOB) effects in
two-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard flow in glycerol, which shows a dramatic change
in the viscosity with temperature. The results are presented both as functions
of the Rayleigh number (Ra) up to (for fixed temperature difference
between the top and bottom plates) and as functions of
"non-Oberbeck-Boussinesqness'' or "NOBness'' () up to 50 K (for fixed
Ra). For this large NOBness the center temperature is more than 5 K
larger than the arithmetic mean temperature between top and bottom plate
and only weakly depends on Ra. To physically account for the NOB deviations of
the Nusselt numbers from its Oberbeck-Boussinesq values, we apply the
decomposition of into the product of two effects, namely
first the change in the sum of the top and bottom thermal BL thicknesses, and
second the shift of the center temperature as compared to . While
for water the origin of the deviation is totally dominated by the second
effect (cf. Ahlers et al., J. Fluid Mech. 569, pp. 409 (2006)) for glycerol the
first effect is dominating, in spite of the large increase of as compared
to .Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
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
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