Secondary whirls in thermoconvective vortices developed in a cylindrical annulus locally heated from below

The appearance, evolution, and disappearance of periodic and quasiperiodic dynamics of fluid flows in a cylindrical annulus locally heated from below are analyzed using nonlinear simulations. The results reveal a route of the transition from a steady axisymmetric vertical vortex to a chaotic flow. The chaotic flow regime is reached after a sequence of successive supercritical Hopf bifurcations to periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic flow regimes. A scenario similar to the Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse scenario is verified in this convective flow. In the transition to chaos we find the appearance of subvortices embedded in the primary axisymmetric vortex, flows where the subvortical structure strengthens and weakens, that almost disappears before reforming again, leading to a more disorganized flow to a final chaotic regime. Results are remarkable as they connect to observations describing formation, weakening, and virtual disappearance before revival of subvortices in some atmospheric swirls such as dust devils.

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Secondary whirls in thermoconvective vortices developed in a cylindrical annulus locally heated from below

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Computational Aspects of a Time Evolution Scheme for Incompressible Boussinesq Navier-Stokes in a Cylinder

Computational Aspects of a Time Evolution Scheme for Incompressible Boussinesq Navier-Stokes in a Cylinder

A spectral method for numerical modeling of radial microwave heating in cylindrical samples with temperature dependent dielectric properties

Evolution of secondary whirls in thermoconvective vortices: Strengthening, weakening, and disappearance in the route to chaos

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