Experimental Studies of Convective Turbulence

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9623612 Tong The research project will utilize light scattering and laser Doppler velocimetry techniques to study statistical properties of, and correlations among the velocity, temperature, and vorticity fields of turbulent thermal convection in water. The experiments will investigate (1) the spatial structure of the coherent motions and the correlations between the velocity and temperature fluctuations in turbulent convection, and (2) new scaling laws of velocity and vorticity statistics over varying Rayleigh numbers and length scales in the turbulent core region and near the boundary layers. The project will provide a body of reliable data to test current theories for turbulent convection and to understand key features in the turbulent heat transport and in the atmospheric convection. %%% The research project will utilize light scattering and laser Doppler velocimetry techniques (similar to automobile laser radar) to study statistical properties of turbulent motion in thermal convection. The proposed experiments are of fundamental interest for understanding the nature of convective turbulence, and they are also relevant to many practical applications in engineering, geography, and meteorology. The project will provide a body of reliable data to understand key features in the turbulent heat transport and in the atmospheric convection. Understanding the heat transport phenomena under different boundary conditions will shed new light on technological improvements for more efficient heat transfer in various industrial applications ranging from heat exchangers in a nuclear reactor to a reentry vehicle. The development of novel laser light scattering techniques will have additional applications in the discipline of fluid mechanics. ***