An Experimental Study of Two-Layer Convection

PI将对不同密度和粘度的两个叠加流体层中的热对流进行一系列实验室实验。工作液的密度和粘度将通过改变水溶液中盐和纤维素(钠醇)的浓度来控制。这项技术最大的优点是密度和粘度可以独立变化，这在以前的实验研究中是不可能的。实验的主要目的是(1)确定层与层之间发生热和机械耦合的条件，以及(2)推导描述系统整体演化的量的标度律(例如，Nusselt数和混合速率)。

The PI will carry out a series of laboratory experiments on thermal convection in two superposed fluid layers with different densities and viscosities. The density and viscosity of the working fluid will be controlled by varying the concentrations respectively of salt and cellulose (Natrosol) in aqueous solution. The most important advantage of this technique is that the density and viscosity can be varied independently, which was not possible in previous experimental studies. The primary goals of the experiments are (1) to determine the conditions under which thermal and mechanical coupling between the layers occurs,a nd (2) to derive scaling laws for quantities (e.g., Nusselt number and mixing rate) which describes the global evolution of the system.