In this numerical study on Rayleigh-Benard convection, we seek to improve the heat transfer by passive means. To this end we introduce a single tilted conductive barrier centered in an aspect ratio one cell, breaking the symmetry of the geometry and to channel the ascending hot and descending cold plumes. We study the global and local heat transfer and the flow organization for Rayleigh numbers 10(5) <= Ra <= 10(9) for a fixed Prandtl number of Pr = 4.3. We find that the global heat transfer can be enhanced up to 18%, and locally around 800%. The averaged Reynolds number is always decreased when a barrier is introduced, even for those cases where the global heat transfer is increased. We map the entire parameter space spanned by the orientation and the size of a single barrier for Ra = 10(8).

We report on a three-dimensional direct numerical simulation study of flow structure and heat transport in the annular centrifugal Rayleigh-Bdnard convection (ACRBC) system, with cold inner and hot outer cylinders corotating axially, for the Rayleigh number range Ra is an element of [10(6), 10(8)] and radius ratio range eta = R-i/R-o is an element of [0.3, 0.9] (R-i and R-o are the radius of the inner and outer cylinders, respectively). This study focuses on the dependence of flow dynamics, heat transport and asymmetric mean temperature fields on the radius ratio eta. For the inverse Rossby number Ro(-1) = 1, as the Coriolis force balances inertial force, the flow is in the inertial regime. The mechanisms of zonal flow revolving in the prograde direction in this regime are attributed to the asymmetric movements of plumes and the different curvatures of the cylinders. The number of roll pairs is smaller than the circular roll hypothesis as the convection rolls are probably elongated by zonal flow. The physical mechanism of zonal flow is verified by the dependence of the drift frequency of the large-scale circulation (LSC) rolls and the space- and time-averaged azimuthal velocity on eta. The larger eta is, the weaker the zonal flow becomes. We show that the heat transport efficiency increases with eta. It is also found that the bulk temperature deviates from the arithmetic mean temperature and the deviation increases as eta decreases. This effect can be explained by a simple model that accounts for the curvature effects and the radially dependent centrifugal force in ACRBC.

For a fixed geometric configuration, hydrodynamic instabilities and bifurcation processes of laminar isothermal planar opposed jet flows with symmetric and slightly asymmetric inlet boundary conditions are investigated numerically using a high-resolution approach based on spectral element method. In current configuration, when inlet boundary conditions are symmetric, in the range of the Reynolds number considered (Re <= 200), multiple new symmetry-breaking bifurcations are observed and four new flow patterns are identified. Their hydrodynamic characteristics are analyzed, in particular their symmetries. In addition, the case that inlet boundary conditions are slightly asymmetric is investigated. It is found that bifurcation processes are extremely sensitive to this small symmetry-breaking imperfection and much different from those in the symmetric case. Furthermore, model equations are constructed by symmetry consideration to explain the numerical results based on hydrodynamic equations.

Flow reversals in two-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard convection led by non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq (NOB) effects due to large temperature differences arc studied by direct numerical simulation. Perfect gas is chosen as the working fluid and the Prandtl number is 0.71 for the reference state. 11 NOB effects are included, the flow pattern P-11 with only one dominant roll often becomes unstable by the growth of the cold corner roll, which sometimes results in cession-led flow reversals. By exploiting the vorticity transport equation, it is found that the asymmetries of buoyancy and viscous forces are responsible for the growth of the cold corner roll because both such asymmetries cause an imbalance between the corner rolls and the large-scale circulation (I.SC). The buoyancy force near the cold wall increases and decreases near the hot wall originating from the temperature-dependent isobaric thermal expansion coefficient alpha = 1/T if NOB effects are included; Moreover, the decreased dissipation due to lower viscosity is favourable for the growth of the cold corner roll, while the increased viscosity further suppresses the growth of the hot corner roll. Finally, it is found that the boundary layer near the cold wall plays an important role in the mass transport from LSC to corner rolls subject to mass conservation.

We study the translational and rotational dynamics of neutrally buoyant finite-size spheroids in hydrodynamic turbulence by means of fully resolved numerical simulations. We examine axisymmetric shapes, from oblate to prolate, and the particle volume dependences. We show that the accelerations and rotations experienced by non-spherical inertial-scale particles result from volume filtered fluid forces and torques, similar to spherical particles. However, the particle orientations carry signatures of preferential alignments with the surrounding flow structures, which are reflected in distinct axial and lateral fluctuations for accelerations and rotation rates. The randomization of orientations does not occur even for particles with volume-equivalent diameter size in the inertial range, here up to 60 dissipative units (eta) at Taylor-scale Reynolds number Re-lambda = 120. Additionally, we demonstrate that the role of fluid boundary layers around the particles cannot be neglected in reaching a quantitative understanding of particle statistical dynamics, as they affect the intensities of the angular velocities and the relative importance of tumbling with respect to spinning rotations. This study brings to the fore the importance of inertial-scale flow structures in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence and their impacts on the transport of neutrally buoyant bodies with sizes in the inertial range.