The study of the formation and growth of thermal plumes is motivated by the proposed existence of such plumes in the Earth's mantle. During the initial stages of plume development, a plume consists of a large buoyant ball trailing a narrow feeder conduit. This study presents laboratory, analytical, and numerical models of this flow. The experimental model generates the plumes using a heater in a syrup whose viscosity is highly temperature-dependent. The resulting data provides a measure of the effectiveness of the analytical and numerical models. The analytical model, based on mass and energy conservation, shows a significant improvement in the flow prediction compared to previous models. The numerical model uses the finite-element method to produce a flow solution that successfully predicts the flow to within the experimental error. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: B, page: 1400. / Major Professor: David E. Loper. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76629 |
| Contributors | Coulliette, David Lee., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 121 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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