Numerical Investigation of Thermal Dissipation Rate

in
Rayleigh-Bénard Convection

By:
Teddy Matthew Sunandar
Aviation Engineering/11201501013
Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
• Natural Convection
• Buoyancy and Gravitational Force
• Fluid enclosed by two plates/surfaces, the bottom being
heated and the top being cooled

Image Source:
https://www.mis.mpg.de/applan/research/rayleigh.html
Motive-Why Study RBC?
• RBC: Simplest model of Natural Convection
• Convection has a lot of applications in natural science and
engineering devices

Image Source: Image Source:

https://gifer.com/en/5UQZ https://gfycat.com/tediousrigidamericankestrel-mantle
Thermal Dissipation Rate
Quantity which measures the magnitude of the
temperature gradient.

General Expression:

In 2-Dimensional:
Research Objective
Numerical Investigation of thermal dissipation rate:
• In 2 different fluids: Water and Earth’s mantle in RBC

• Contributions in thermal boundary layer and bulk regions

• Using 2 methods of thermal boundary layer separation:

Classical Boundary Layer and Dissipation Layer Method
Data Sets

Temperature Difference Moderate Prandtl Number

Viscosity
Very High Prandtl Number

Γ = Geometrical Aspect Ratio

Temperature Profile

When Rayleigh Number is beyond

critical threshold, heat transfer is in
the form of conduction as well as
convection.

Temperature Profile in Conduction

Temperature Fluctuation
Field due to Convection
Nondimensionalized Boussinesq Equations

Moderate Prandtl Number Very High Prandtl Number

Water, Pr = 10 Earth’s Mantle, Pr = 1024
Finite-Difference Method
Classical Boundary Layer Method

Temperature Average Profile

Segment 25%

Maximum Temperature
Near the Plates ≈ 0.5

Horizontal Distance

Thermal Boundary Layer Thickness

Dissipation Layer Method

Local Thermal Dissipation Rate

Segment 25%

Thermal Dissipation Rate Area-

Average

Corresponding Thermal Boundary

Layer Thickness
Data Set 1 – Water, Pr = 10, Ra = 106, Γ = 4
Data Set 2 – Water, Pr = 10, Ra = 107, Γ = 4
Data Set 3 – Earth’s Mantle, Pr = ∞, Ra = 108, Γ = 1
Data Set 4 – Earth’s Mantle, Pr = ∞, Ra = 107, Γ = 2
Summary of All the Cases
Data Set 1 – Time-Averaged Values Data Set 2 – Time-Averaged Values
Water, Pr = 10, Ra = 106, Γ = 4 Water, Pr = 10, Ra = 107, Γ = 4
Values CBL TDL Values CBL TDL
TBL Thickness Average 0.04833 0.04779 TBL Thickness Average 0.018715 0.029575

TDR Contributions in TBL 82% 85% TDR Contributions in TBL 86% 88%

TDR Contributions in Bulk 18% 15% TDR Contributions in Bulk 14% 12%

Data Set 3 – Time-Averaged Values Data Set 4 – Time-Averaged Values

Earth’s Mantle, Pr = ∞, Ra = 108, Γ = 1 Earth’s Mantle, Pr = ∞, Ra = 107, Γ = 2
Values CBL TDL Values CBL TDL
TBL Thickness Average 0.009715 0.01887 TBL Thickness Average 0.016025 0.02963

TDR Contributions in TBL 78% 79% TDR Contributions in TBL 79% 83%

TDR Contributions in Bulk 22% 21% TDR Contributions in Bulk 21% 17%
Summary
• Post processing tool to conduct numerical investigation of thermal
dissipation rate was created using python scripts
• Classical boundary layer method and thermal dissipation layer
method were used to separate thermal boundary layers with bulk
regions
• Thermal boundary layer thickness decreases as Rayleigh number
increases
• High contribution of thermal dissipation rate were found in thermal
boundary layers
Recommendations
• More snapshots of the system should be taken

• Observe geometrical effects with the same fluid parameters for

different aspect ratio Γ

• Try using the Plume-Background method to analyze thermal

dissipation rate contributions

• Use other methods of evaluating temperature derivatives/gradients

Thank You