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This paper studied the Rayleigh–Bénard convection in binary fluid mixtures with a strong Soret effect (separation ratio ψ = − 0.6 ) in a rectangular container heated uniformly from below. We used a high-accuracy compact finite difference method to solve the hydrodynamic equations used to describe the Rayleigh–Bénard convection. A stable traveling-wave convective state with periodic source defects (PSD-TW) is obtained and its properties are discussed in detail. Our numerical results show that the novel PSD-TW state is maintained by the Eckhaus instability and the difference between the creation and annihilation frequencies of convective rolls at the left and right boundaries of the container. In the range of Rayleigh number in which the PSD-TW state is stable, the period of defect occurrence increases first and then decreases with increasing Rayleigh number. At the upper bound of this range, the system transitions from PSD-TW state to another type of traveling-wave state with aperiodic and more dislocated defects. Moreover, we consider the problem with the Prandtl number P r ranging from 0.1 to 20 and the Lewis number L e from 0.001 to 1, and discuss the stabilities of the PSD-TW states and present the results as phase diagrams.

In this paper, the dynamical behavior of two-dimensional double-diffusive convection is numerically investigated using a high-accuracy numerical method. The process of flow transition in the presence of buoyancy is studied in detail, and the effects of the fluid properties and geometric parameters on the flow characteristics and heat and mass transfer are discussed. The results show that, as the buoyancy ratio increases from 0 to 2, the flow undergoes a complex series of transitions, from a steady, temperature-dominated state to periodic motion, then chaotic motion, back to periodic motion, and finally back to a steady, concentration-dominated state. At a fixed buoyancy ratio, when the Prandtl number Pr is less than 1, the flow changes from periodic or chaotic to steady with increasing Pr, and the heat and mass transfer efficiencies oscillate with an increasing trend. When [Formula: see text], the flow is steady, and the heat and mass transfer remain nearly constant. For low Rayleigh numbers, the heat and mass transfer efficiencies increase monotonically with increasing Lewis number, but the flow is always in a steady state. For high Rayleigh numbers, the flow transitions from steady to periodic or chaotic via a supercritical Hopf bifurcation with increasing Lewis number, and the heat and mass transfer efficiencies oscillate with an increasing trend. In the range of aspect ratios considered in this study, the heat and mass transfer efficiencies exhibit an overall decay with increasing aspect ratio.

Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection in binary fluid mixtures, which shows rich and interesting pattern formation behavior, is a paradigm for understanding instabilities, bifurcations, self-organization with complex spatiotemporal behavior and turbulence, with many applications in atmospheric and environmental physics, astrophysics, and process technology. In this paper, by using a high-order compact finite difference method to solve the full hydrodynamic field equations, we study numerically the RB convection in binary fluid mixtures such as ethanol-water with a very weak Soret effect (separation ratio <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$\psi=-0.02$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="7-20191836_M2.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="7-20191836_M2.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula>) in a rectangular container heated uniformly from below. The direct numerical simulations are conducted in the rectangular container with aspect ratio of <inline-formula><tex-math id="M3">\begin{document}$\varGamma=12$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="7-20191836_M3.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="7-20191836_M3.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> and with four no-slip and impermeable boundaries, isothermal horizontal and perfectly insulated vertical boundaries. The bifurcation and the origin and evolution of pattern in RB convection for the considered physical parameters are studied, and the bifurcation diagram is presented. By performing two-dimensional simulations, we observe three stable states of Blinking state, localized traveling wave and stationary overturning convection (SOC) state, and discuss the transitions between them. The results show that there is a hysteresis in the transition from the Blinking state to the localized traveling wave state for the considered separation ratio, and the evolution of the oscillation frequency, convection amplitude and Nusselt number are discontinuous. Near the lower bound of the Rayleigh number range where the Blinking state exists, a asymmetric initial disturbance is the inducement for the formation of the Blinking state. Inside the range, its inducing effect is weakened, and the oscillatory instability becomes the main reason. It is further confirmed that reflections of lateral walls are responsible for the survival of the stable Blinking state. With the increase of the Rayleigh number, the critical SOC state undergoes multiple bifurcations and forms multiple SOC states with different wave numbers, and then transitions to a chaotic state. There are no stable undulation traveling wave states at both ends of the critical SOC branch.