Theoretical and Experimental Study of Thermal Convection in Rotating Horizontal Annulus

The paper presents the results of theoretical and experimental studies of thermal convection in a rotating horizontal cylindrical liquid layer. A layer with boundaries of different temperatures both when heating from inside and outside is considered. Steady thermal convection is determined by two mechanisms: thermovibrational and centrifugal ones. The first one appears due to oscillations of nonisothermal liquid in the cavity frame caused by gravity. Both mechanisms manifest themselves in the formation of two-dimensional convective rolls, extended along the axis of rotation. It is shown that the results of the experimental study of the layer quasiequilibrium stability are in a good agreement with the results obtained in the framework of numerical calculation and linear theory. The structure of thermal convection and heat transport in the supercritical area of parameters is studied numerically, taking into account the slow azimuthal drift of the entire liquid layer in the direction opposite to the rotation of the cavity. The results of numerical simulation and experimental studies are consistent in the area of moderate and large values of the dimensionless velocity of rotation.