Dynamic states in rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection systems

Author: Kuo, Eugenia Y.

Year: 1994

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Cross, Michael Clifford

Committee Member: Unknown, Unknown

Option: Physics

DOI: 10.7907/1cyd-2859

Abstract

A new geometry-independent state - a traveling-wave wall state - is proposed as the mechanism whereby which the experimentally observed wall-localized states in rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection systems preempt the bulk state at large rotation rates. Its properties are calculated for the illustrative case of free-slip top and bottom boundary conditions. At small rotation rates, this new wall state is found to disappear. A detailed study of the dynamics of the wall state and the bulk state in the transition region where this disappearance occurs is conducted using a Swift-Hohenberg model system. The Swift-Hohenberg model, with appropriate reflection-symmetry- breaking boundary conditions, is also shown to exhibit traveling-wave wall states, further demonstrating that traveling-wave wall states are a generic feature of nonequilibrium pattern-forming systems. A numerical code for the Swift-Hohenberg model in an annular geometry was written and used to investigate the dynamics of rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection systems.

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