Experimental investigation of turbulence and turbulent thermal diffusion in strongly inhomogeneous and anisotropic forced convection

TL;DR

This study experimentally explores turbulence and turbulent thermal diffusion in strongly inhomogeneous, anisotropic forced convection, revealing how temperature gradients influence particle distribution and flow patterns.

Contribution

It provides detailed measurements of turbulence, temperature, and particle distribution in complex convection, highlighting the role of turbulent thermal diffusion in particle clustering.

Findings

Particle clustering correlates with temperature minima.

Flow transitions between single and double-roll patterns with temperature differences.

Large temperature gradients enhance turbulent thermal diffusion effects.

Abstract

We investigate properties of turbulence and turbulent transport of non-inertial particles described in terms of turbulent thermal diffusion in strongly inhomogeneous and anisotropic convection forced by two similar turbulence generators with oscillating membrane and a steady grid in the air flow (with the Rayleigh number about $10^8$). Velocity field and spatial distribution of particles are measured using Particle Image Velocimetry system. The temperature distribution is measured in many locations using a temperature probe equipped with 12 E - thermocouples. In the forced convection, the gradients of the mean temperature field and the particle number density in the horizontal direction in the core flow are much stronger than in the vertical direction. The mean fluid velocity structure show transition between a single-roll pattern for isothermal turbulence to double-roll patterns with increase of the temperature difference between the bottom and upper walls of the chamber. For larger temperature differences, the mean fluid velocity structure returns to a single-roll pattern. In the turbulent regions with large mean temperature gradients, the dominant effect of the large-scale particle clustering is turbulent thermal diffusion, resulting in that the maximum of the mean particle number density is located in the regions with minimum of the mean temperature and vise versa. Deviations from this feature is observed in the regions with strong mean fluid velocities where the mean temperature gradients are small.