A numerical model of a convective cell driven by non-uniform horizontal heating.
John F. Festa · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · 1971
A numerical model of thermal convection for a two-dimensional laminar, non-linear, non-rotating, incompressible, viscous fluid con-tained in a rectangle and heated non-uniformly from below is investi-gated. Two studies are made, one for a stress free bottom boundary and the other for a constant applied stress along the bottom. The Boussinesq equations are integrated numerically by means of the explicit scheme of DuFort and Frankel (1953) and in each case the top and side boundaries are both insulating and rigid. In the first study the dependence of the cellular convective motion and isotherms upon the Prandtl number, F, and the horizontal Ray-leigh number, Ra, is examined. A single asymmetric convective cell de-velops as the Rayleigh number is increased. The asymmetry and intensity of the circulation increase markedly with increasing horizontal Rayleigh number but respond slightly to changes in the Prandtl number. The bottom