A study of laminar free convection about horizontal plates of finite width with one side heated isothermally and the other insulated is presented in this thesis. This investigation forms part of a continuing program, and its technological origin and significance are discussed in the introduction. The governing partial differential equations comprising the continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved numerically through a finite difference method using a successive-over relaxation technique for a Rayleigh number range from 0.22 to 500, at three values of Prandtl number (0.72, 5.0 and 10.0). The variation of the flow, vorticity and temperature fields with the change of both Grashof and Prandtl numbers is discussed on the basis of the streamline, iso-vorticity and isothermal plots obtained . The effect of Prandtl number alone on the momentum field, energy distribution and heat transfer rate is discussed, by a comparison of the isotherms, streamlines and correlation curves obtained for the three different Prandtl numbers. The theoretical analysis places emphasis on the singular nature of the boundary conditions specified and on the influence of the finite size of the domain of the finite difference scheme. Some results for an upward facing horizontal isothermally heated plate of finite width were also obtained, and were compared to data for the downward facing case. A semi-focussing Schlieren colour system was used order to investigate experimentally the flow behaviour on a horizontal plate with the heated surface facing-downward The experimental results sought were evidence of the non-boundary layer nature of the flow. The evidence of non-boundary layer flow was obtained conclusively. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Master of Science

A three-dimensional linear stability analysis is presented for two-dimensional boundary layer flows. The method of multiple scales is used to derive the amplitude and the wave number modulation equations, which take into account the nonparallelism of the basic flow. The zeroth-order eigenvalue problem is numerically integrated to calculate the quasi-parallel growth rates which are then integrated together with the nonparallel growth rates along the characteristics of the wave number modulation equations to evaluate the n-factors. The n-factors are used to determine the most dangerous frequency. The most critical frequency is defined to be the one that yields the n-factor corresponding to transition in the shortest possible distance. This definition is used to evaluate the critical frequency for the Blasius boundary layer, a wedge flow and an axisymmetric boundary layer. The effect of three-dimensional disturbances is evaluated and found to be less critical than two-dimensional disturbances regardless of the pressure gradient, the temperature distribution of the wall and the wall geometry. The effect of heating the boundary layer is evaluated for the Blasius, Falkner-Skan and axisymmetric boundary layers. In all the cases considered, heating substantially reduces the n-factors. Results are compared with those of Strazisar & Reshotko (1978) and Nayfeh & El-Hady (1980). / Ph. D.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1964 H99 / Master of Science

The research in this thesis was motivated by a desire to understand the mixing properties of quasi-two-dimensional flows whose time-dependence arises naturally as a result of fluid-dynamic instabilities. Additionally, we wished to study how flows such as these transition from the laminar into the turbulent regime. This thesis presents a numerical and theoretical investigation of a particular fluid dynamical system introduced by Kolmogorov. It consists of a thin layer of electrolytic fluid that is driven by the interaction of a steady current with a magnetic field produced by an array of bar magnets. First, we derive a theoretical model for the system by depth-averaging the Navier-Stokes equation, reducing it to a two-dimensional scalar evolution equation for the vertical component of vorticity. A code was then developed in order to both numerically simulate the fluid flow as well as to compute invariant solutions. As the strength of the driving force is increased, we find a number of steady, time-periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic flows as the fluid transitions into the turbulent regime. Through long-time advection of a large number of passive tracers, the mixing properties of the various flows that we found were studied. Specifically, the mixing was quantified by computing the relative size of the mixed region as well as the mixing rate. We found the mixing efficiency of the flow to be a non-monotonic function of the driving current and that significant changes in the flow did not always lead to comparable changes in its transport properties. However, some very subtle changes in the flow dramatically altered the degree of mixing. Using the theory of chaos as it applies to Hamiltonian systems, we were able to explain many of our results.

A full three dimensional computational study was carried out using a finite-volume based solver for analyzing the performance of pin-fin based micro/meso scale heat exchangers with air as the working fluid. A staggered arrangement of cylindrical pin fins in rectangular channel geometry was used. Various configurations were considered consistent with a parallel experimental study being conducted based on a micro-wind tunnel setup. The pin/channel height used was 0.4 mm, and the pin diameters varied from 0.17-0.50 mm to give hydraulic diameters in the range of 0.13-0.78 mm. This gave volumetric area densities for the heat exchangers in the range of 5-15 mm2/mm3. Various heat exchanger configurations were simulated to determine performance characteristics such as the Nusselt number, friction factor, specific fluid friction power and Mach number in the Reynolds number regime for laminar flows. In addition a detailed numerical diagnosis was carried out to determine local behavior on the pin surfaces, end walls, etc to identify specific characteristics such as regions of high and low heat transfer, locations for possible shock formation, etc. The range of results obtained would be useful for future design of micro heat exchangers for use in small footprint, high heat flux dissipation applications like turbine blade and microelectronic systems.

Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Eugene C. Eckstein. / Ph.D.

Xi Hengdong = 關於熱羽流和Rayleigh-Bénard對流中大尺度環流形成的實驗研究 / 郗恒東. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-75). / Text in English; abstracts in English and Chinese. / Xi Hengdong = Guan yu re yu liu he Rayleigh-Bénard dui liu zhong da chi du huan liu xing cheng de shi yan yan jiu / Xi Hengdong. / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.xi / List of Tables --- p.xii / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Rayleigh-Benard System --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Physical Picture --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Characteristic Parameters --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Plume and Large Scale Circulation --- p.4 / Chapter 2 --- Experimental Setup and Techniques --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Apparatus --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Convection Cell --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Other Apparatus --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Visualization --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3 --- PIV technique --- p.17 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Image Capture System --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Image Analysis system --- p.26 / Chapter 3 --- Properties of Laminar Plume --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1 --- Shadowgraph and Temperature measurement --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2 --- Velocity Measurement --- p.35 / Chapter 4 --- Onset of Large-scale circulation in turbulent thermal convec- tion --- p.48 / Chapter 5 --- Convection in Rectangular cell --- p.60 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.69 / Chapter 6.1 --- Conclusion --- p.69 / Chapter 6.2 --- Perspective for further investigation --- p.71 / Bibliography --- p.72

The last key to implementing laminar flow control on swept-wings is controlling the crossflow instability. One promising technology is spanwise-periodic discrete roughness elements (DREs). Previous work has shown success with applique DREs and extending the region of laminar flow. This work seeks to extend the DRE technology to include dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators as well as recreate past experiments with applique DREs. One major need in implementing DREs and controlling crossflow is attaining an accurate measurement of the freestream atmospheric turbulence intensities. Knowing the atmospheric turbulence intensity will allow for comparing wind tunnel experiments to the flight environment and help produce better wind tunnel experiments by allowing them to better match the flight environment. Also, knowledge of the turbulence intensity at the specific instance of an experimental data point will allow for determining if differences in experimental results are the result of a difference in turbulence intensity. It has been determined through this work that the levels of freestream turbulence range from 0.023% - 0.047% with an average of 0.035%. These levels were reached through the use of temporal correlations to remove electronic noise as well as acoustic sound from the hotwire measurements and hence are lower than previously calculated.