Numerical study of surface tension driven convection in thermal magnetic fluids

Microgravity conditions pose unique challenges for fluid handling and heat transfer applications. By controlling (curtailing or augmenting) the buoyant and thermocapillary convection, the latter being the dominant convective flow in a microgravity environment, significant advantages can be achieved in space based processing. The control of this surface tension gradient driven flow is sought using a magnetic field, and the effects of these are studied computationally. A two-fluid layer system, with the lower fluid being a non-conducting ferrofluid, is considered under the influence of a horizontal temperature gradient. To capture the deformable interface, a numerical method to solve the Navier???Stokes equations, heat equations, and Maxwell???s equations was developed using a hybrid level set/ volume-of-fluid technique. The convective velocities and heat fluxes were studied under various regimes of the thermal Marangoni number Ma, the external field represented by the magnetic Bond number Bom, and various gravity levels, Fr. Regimes where the convection were either curtailed or augmented were identified. It was found that the surface force due to the step change in the magnetic permeability at the interface could be suitably utilized to control the instability at the interface.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

On buoyant convection in binary solidification

We consider the problem of nonlinear steady buoyant convection in horizontal mushy layers during the solidification of binary alloys. We investigate both cases of zero vertical volume flux and constant pressure, referred to as impermeable and permeable conditions, respectively, at the upper mush???liquid interface. We analyze the effects of several parameters of the problem on the stationary modes of convection in the form of either hexagonal cells or non-hexagonal cells, such as rolls, rectangles and squares. [More ...]published or submitted for publicationis not peer reviewe

On mathematical modeling, nonlinear properties and stability of secondary flow in a dendrite layer

This paper studies instabilities in the flow of melt within a horizontal dendrite layer with deformed upper boundary and in the presence or absence of rotation during the solidification of a binary alloy. In the presence of rotation, it is assumed that the layer is rotating about a vertical axis at a constant angular velocity. Linear and weakly nonlinear stability analyses provide results about various flow features such as the critical mode of convection, neutral stability curve, preferred flow pattern and the solid fraction distribution within the dendrite layer. The preferred shape of the deformed upper boundary of the layer, which is found to be caused by the temperature variations of the secondary flow, is detected to be the same as that for the stable and preferred horizontal flow pattern within the dendrite layer

On Mathematical Modeling, Nonlinear Properties and Stability of Secondary Flow in a Dendrite Layer

This paper studies instabilities in the flow of melt within a horizontal dendrite layer with deformed upper boundary and in the presence or absence of rotation during the solidification of a binary alloy. In the presence of rotation, it is assumed that the layer is rotating about a vertical axis at a constant angular velocity. Linear and weakly nonlinear stability analyses provide results about various flow features such as the critical mode of convection, neutral stability curve, preferred flow pattern and the solid fraction distribution within the dendrite layer. The preferred shape of the deformed upper boundary of the layer, which is found to be caused by the temperature variations of the secondary flow, is detected to be the same as that for the stable and preferred horizontal flow pattern within the dendrite layer

Future capacity growth of energy technologies: are scenarios consistent with historical evidence?

Future scenarios of the energy system under greenhouse gas emission constraints depict dramatic growth in a range of energy technologies. Technological growth dynamics observed historically provide a useful comparator for these future trajectories. We find that historical time series data reveal a consistent relationship between how much a technology’s cumulative installed capacity grows, and how long this growth takes. This relationship between extent (how much) and duration (for how long) is consistent across both energy supply and end-use technologies, and both established and emerging technologies. We then develop and test an approach for using this historical relationship to assess technological trajectories in future scenarios. Our approach for “learning from the past” contributes to the assessment and verification of integrated assessment and energy-economic models used to generate quantitative scenarios. Using data on power generation technologies from two such models, we also find a consistent extent - duration relationship across both technologies and scenarios. This relationship describes future low carbon technological growth in the power sector which appears to be conservative relative to what has been evidenced historically. Specifically, future extents of capacity growth are comparatively low given the lengthy time duration of that growth. We treat this finding with caution due to the low number of data points. Yet it remains counter-intuitive given the extremely rapid growth rates of certain low carbon technologies under stringent emission constraints. We explore possible reasons for the apparent scenario conservatism, and find parametric or structural conservatism in the underlying models to be one possible explanation

An Assessment of Technological Change Across Selected Energy Scenarios

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Spatial Instability of Electrically Driven Jets with Finite Conductivity and Under Constant or Variable Applied Field

We investigate the problem of spatial instability of electrically driven viscous jets with finite electrical conductivity and in the presence of either a constant or a variable applied electric field. A mathematical model, which is developed and used for the spatially growing disturbances in electrically driven jet flows, leads to a lengthy equation for the unknown growth rate and frequency of the disturbances. This equation is solved numerically using Newton’s method. For neutral temporal stability boundary, we find, in particular, two new spatial modes of instability under certain conditions. One of these modes is enhanced by the strength Ω of the applied field, while the other mode decays with increasing Ω. The growth rates of both modes increase mostly with decreasing the axial wavelength of the disturbances. For the case of variable applied field, we found the growth rates of the spatial instability modes to be higher than the corresponding ones for constant applied field, provided Ω is not too small

On three-dimensional rotating viscoelastic jets in the Giesekus model

We investigate three-dimensional nonlinear rotating viscoelastic curved jets in the presence of gravity force. Applying the Giesekus model for the viscoelastic stress parts of the jet flow system and using perturbation methods with a consistent scaling, a relatively simple system of equations with realistic three-dimensional centerlines is developed. We determine numerically the relevant solution quantities of the model in terms of the radius, speed, tensile force, stretching rate, strain rate and the jet centerline versus arc length and for different parameter values associated with gravity, viscosity, rotation, surface tension and viscoelasticity. Considering the jet flow system in full 3-dimensions and in the presence of gravity can be significant, impacting the jet speed, strain rate, tensile force, stretching rate and the centerline curvature are notably increased in magnitude and the jet radius size is reduced and this becomes more dominant with larger values of the arc length, gravity, rotation and viscoelasticity. In particular, for a typical value of the gravity and for an order one value of the arc length, we found that gravity makes jet speed higher by at least a factor of 2 and makes jet radius lower by a factor of 0.6 or smaller as we compare to the corresponding values when gravity is not considered

Effect of Hydraulic Resistivity on a Weakly Nonlinear Thermal Flow in a Porous Layer

Heat and mass transfer through porous media has been a topic of research interest because of its importance in various applications. The flow system in porous media is modelled by a set of partial differential equations. The momentum equation which is derived from Darcy’s law contains a resistivity parameter. We investigate the effect of hydraulic resistivity on a weakly nonlinear thermal flow in a horizontal porous layer. The present study is a realistic study of nonlinear convection flow with variable resistivity whose rate of variation is arbitrary in general. This is a first step for considering more general problems in applications that involve variable resistivity that may include both variations in permeability and viscosity of the porous layer. Such problems are important for understanding properties of underground flow, migration of moisture in fibrous insulations, underground disposal of nuclear waste, welding process, petrochemical generation, drug delivery in vascular tumor, etc. Using weakly non-linear procedure, the linear and first-order systems are derived. The critical Rayleigh number and the critical wave number are obtained from the linear system using the normal mode approach for the two-dimensional case. The linear and first-order systems are solved numerically using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta and shooting methods. Numerical results for the temperature are presented in tabular and graphical forms for different resistivities. Through this study, it is observed that a stabilizing effect on the dependent variables occurs in the case of a positive vertical rate of change in resistivity, whereas a destabilizing effect is noticed in the case of a negative vertical rate of change in resistivity. The results obtained indicate that the convective flow due to the buoyancy force is more effective for weaker resistivity