Abstract
The natural convection in a reservoir sidearm induced by solar radiation is visualised using a shadowgraph technique. The flow visualisation reveals three stages of the flow development, namely an initial growth stage, a transitional stage and a quasi-steady stage. At the initial growth stage, a distinct thermal boundary layer grows rapidly along the sloping bottom. The transitional stage is characterised by the onset of convective instability in a form of rising plumes. At the quasi-steady state, the mean temperature across the enclosure increases steadily in time and the flow is sighted with quasi-regular presence of instabilities with reduced intensities.
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Received: 3 July 2001/Accepted: 10 December 2001
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Lei, C., Patterson, J. Natural convection in a reservoir sidearm subject to solar radiation: experimental observations. Experiments in Fluids 32, 590–599 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-001-0402-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-001-0402-7