Numerical simulations of compressible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence in stratified fluids

TL;DR

This paper reports on numerical simulations of compressible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence using a novel lattice Boltzmann method, revealing how stratification and the adiabatic gradient influence mixing in thermal compressible flows.

Contribution

The study introduces a lattice Boltzmann method capable of simulating thermal compressible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence across different regimes, including stratified conditions.

Findings

Stratification causes arrest of mixing due to the adiabatic gradient.

The method effectively models both nearly-Boussinesq and strongly compressible flows.

Results highlight the impact of stratification on turbulence dynamics.

Abstract

We present results from numerical simulations of Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence, performed using a recently proposed lattice Boltzmann method able to describe consistently a thermal compressible flow subject to an external forcing. The method allowed us to study the system both in the nearly-Boussinesq and strongly compressible regimes. Moreover, we show that when the stratification is important, the presence of the adiabatic gradient causes the arrest of the mixing process.