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Heat transfer and large scale dynamics in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

Guenter Ahlers*, Siegfried Grossmann†, and Detlef Lohse‡

Guenter Ahlers*

  • Department of Physics and iQCD, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

Siegfried Grossmann†

  • Fachbereich Physik, Philipps-Universität Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany

Detlef Lohse‡

  • Physics of Fluids Group, Department of Science and Technology, J. M. Burgers Centre for Fluid Dynamics, and Impact-Institute, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

  • *guenter@physics.ucsb.edu
  • †grossmann@physik.uni-marburg.de
  • ‡d.lohse@utwente.nl
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Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 503 – Published 22 April, 2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.81.503

Abstract

The progress in our understanding of several aspects of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection is reviewed. The focus is on the question of how the Nusselt number and the Reynolds number depend on the Rayleigh number Ra and the Prandtl number Pr, and on how the thicknesses of the thermal and the kinetic boundary layers scale with Ra and Pr. Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq effects and the dynamics of the large scale convection roll are addressed as well. The review ends with a list of challenges for future research on the turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard system.

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Rev. Mod. Phys. 81, 503– Published 22 April, 2009

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