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Inequalities and variational principles in double-diffusive turbulence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

Melvin E. Stern
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881

Abstract

An inequality pertaining to the energetics of the boundary layer in turbulent pipe flow and turbulent thermal convection is generalized for the double-diffusive convection problem, where a semi-infinite layer of cold, fresh and light water overlies another hot, salty and dense layer. The smallest possible salt/heat-flux ratio equals the ratio of the square roots of the respective diffusivities. The bound is asymptotically realizable according to a variational principle. A bound on the relative fluxes is predicted when another solute is added (‘multiple diffusion’).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1972 Cambridge University Press

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