How small-scale flow structures affect the heat transport in sheared thermal convection

Yerragolam, G.S.; Verzicco, R.; Lohse, D.; Stevens, R.J.A.M.

doi:10.1017/jfm.2022.425

Publication 92 · Thermal convection

How small-scale flow structures affect the heat transport in sheared thermal convection

G.S. Yerragolam, R. Verzicco, D. Lohse, R.J.A.M. Stevens, J. Fluid Mech. 944, A1 (2022).

Main finding

Small- and large-scale spectral peaks coexist at the thermal-layer height.

Premultiplied convective spectra at two normalisations across a range of shear strengths — **How to read the figure.** Premultiplied spectra of the convective heat flux at the thermal boundary layer height, normalised by the domain height (top row) and by a small-scale length (bottom row), across shear strengths from none to strong. A small-scale and a large-scale peak are present at the same height, each marked, so the heat transport there is carried at two separated scales rather than one. Open the full-resolution figure. Figure 5. G.S. Yerragolam et al. (2022). No separate licence is stated here; consult the original publication and credited source before reuse.

Why this matters

Resolving the coexisting spectral peaks connects near-wall plume organization to the nonmonotonic heat-transfer response under shear.

Research context

The coexistence of small- and large-scale spectral peaks is demonstrated at fixed Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers across the imposed-shear sweep. The proposed preference for plume and velocity fluctuations perpendicular to the shear would require conditional momentum averaging and broader parameter tests.

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