Energy spectrum of buoyancy-driven turbulence

Using high-resolution direct numerical simulation and arguments based on the kinetic energy flux $\Pi_u$, we demonstrate that for stably stratified flows, the kinetic energy spectrum $E_u(k) \sim k^{-11/5}$, the entropy spectrum $E_\theta(k) \sim k^{-7/5}$, and $\Pi_u(k) \sim k^{-4/5}$, consistent with the Bolgiano-Obukhov scaling. This scaling arises due to the conversion of kinetic energy to the potential energy by buoyancy. For weaker buoyancy, this conversion is weak, hence $E_u(k)$ follows Kolmogorov's spectrum with a constant energy flux. For Rayleigh B\'{e}nard convection, we show that the energy supply rate by buoyancy is positive, which leads to an increasing $\Pi_u(k)$ with $k$, thus ruling out Bolgiano-Obukhov scaling for the convective turbulence. Our numerical results show that convective turbulence for unit Prandt number exhibits a constant $\Pi_u(k)$ and $E_u(k) \sim k^{-5/3}$ for a narrow band of wavenumbers.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1404.214

Phenomenology of buoyancy-driven turbulence: Recent results

In this paper, we review the recent developments in the field of buoyancy-driven turbulence. Scaling and numerical arguments show that the stably-stratified turbulence with moderate stratification has kinetic energy spectrum $E_u(k) \sim k^{-11/5}$ and the kinetic energy flux $\Pi_u(k) \sim k^{-4/5}$, which is called Bolgiano-Obukhov scaling. The energy flux for the Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection (RBC) however is approximately constant in the inertial range that results in Kolmorogorv's spectrum ($E_u(k) \sim k^{-5/3}$) for the kinetic energy. The phenomenology of RBC should apply to other flows where the buoyancy feeds the kinetic energy, e.g. bubbly turbulence and fully-developed Rayleigh Taylor instability. This paper also covers several models that predict the Reynolds and Nusselt numbers of RBC. Recent works show that the viscous dissipation rate of RBC scales as $\sim \mathrm{Ra}^{1.3}$, where $\mathrm{Ra}$ is the Rayleigh number