AN EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF SALT-STRATIFIED, DOUBLE-DIFFUSIVE SYSTEMS HEATED FROM BELOW (TURBULENCE MODELING)
Abstract
Physical phenomena associated with salt-stratified, double-diffusive thermohaline solutions heated from below are pertinent to numerous engineering and environmental systems. Experimental consideration of an initially isothermal salt-stratified system which is destabilized by bottom heating shows that the entrainment mechanism(s) which is responsible for mixed layer growth in such systems is affected by convective motion produced at the heated surface. With this information, a correlation describing the dimensionless mixed layer growth rate is obtained. A mathematical model is developed which has, as its conceptual basis, the growth mechanism inferred from the experimental portion of the study. The model predictions compare favorably with the experimental results.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Mechanical engineering
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