Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 232-245.

Convection in the Earth's mantle is a complicated phenomenon that causes various tectonic activities and affects mantle evolution on geologic time scales (billions of years). It is a subject as yet not fully understood. The early success of the high Rayleigh number constant viscosity theory was later tempered by the absence of plate motion when the viscosity is more realistically strongly temperature dependent. A similar problem arises if the equally strong pressure dependence of viscosity is considered, since the classical isothermal core convection theory would then imply a strongly variable mantle viscosity, which is inconsistent with results from postglacial rebound studies. We consider a mathematical model for Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a basally heated layer of a fluid whose viscosity depends strongly on both temperature and pressure, defined in an Arrhenius form. The model is solved numerically for extremely large viscosity variations across a unit aspect ratio cell, and steady solutions are obtained. To improve the efficiency of numerical computation, we introduce a modified viscosity law with a low temperature cut-off. We demonstrate that this simplification results in markedly improved numerical convergence without compromising accuracy. Continued numerical experiments suggest that narrow cells are preferred at extreme viscosity contrasts. We are then able to determine the asymptotic structure of the solution, and it agrees well with the numerical results. Beneath a stagnant lid, there is a vigorous convection in the upper part of the cell, and a more sluggish, higher viscosity flow in the lower part of the cell. We then offer some comments on the meaning and interpretation of these results for planetary mantle convection.

No description available.

This thesis reviews the development and current methods of numerical convection heat transfer from available literature, encompassing an analysis of the various finite element formulations available for investigating convection. It further describes the finite element formulation for the primitive variable convection heat transfer equations via a Galerkin weighted residual scheme and using mixed interpolation, and it demonstrates the capability of this method by means of five practical examples, namely natural convection in a thermally driven square cavity, a thermally driven vertical slot, a thermally driven triangular cavity, and a liquid convective diode, and forced convection in a cooling pond. This study also provides the background and framework for the problem of transient convection heat transfer, and for further steady-state studies using parameters outside those considered herein.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1981. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 200-215. / by Claude Jaupart. / Ph.D.

It has been shown that by increasing the film coefficient "h" by means of forced convection the heat transfer rate of a finned pin can be considerably improved. For an average flow rate of air over the extended surfaces, throughout the investigation the increase in the effectiveness was as much as 4.60 times over the free convection process. However the effectiveness decreases with the increasing root excess temperatures. The heat loss through the insulation was about 1.86 percent, which will not impair the accuracy for engineering applications. / Master of Science

The onset of laminar Rayleigh-Bénard convection is investigated for a low-Prandtl number liquid metal in a cylindrical container. All surfaces are considered to be solid and no-slip. Two cases are considered for the thermal boundary conditions at the side wall: conducting and insulated surfaces. A Chebyshev Galerkin spectral model is used to reduce the governing Boussinesq system to a first-order system of ordinary differential equations. A local stability analysis using the linearized system determines the first critical Rayleigh number. The results are compared with experimental data and a numerical study. / Master of Science

Petrov-Galerkin finite element methods based on time-space elements are developed for the time-dependent multi-dimensional linear convection-diffusion equation. The methods introduce two parameters in conjunction with perturbed weighting functions. These parameters are determined locally using truncation error analysis techniques. In the one-dimensional case, the new algorithms are thoroughly analyzed for convergence and stability properties. Numerical schemes that are second order in time, third order in space and stable when the Courant number is less than or equal to one are produced. Extensions of the algorithm to nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations are investigated. In this case, it is found more efficient to use a Petrov-Galerkin method based on a one parameter perturbation and a semi-discrete Petrov-Galerkin formulation with a generalized Newmark algorithm in time. The algorithm is applied to the two-dimensional simulation of natural convection in a horizontal circular cylinder when the Boussinesq approximation is valid. New results are obtained for this problem which show the development of three flow regimes as the Rayleigh number increases. Detailed calculations for the fluid flow and heat transfer in the cylinder for the different regimes as the Rayleigh number increases are presented.