NUMERICAL ANALYSES OF SALT-FINGER PHENOMENA NEAR THE INTERFACE BETWEEN TWO LIQUID LAYERS IN A CUBIC ENCLOSURE

Abstract

The salt-finger phenomena in a two-layer system that consists of hot solution (upper layer) and cold water (lower layer) was studied by a finite difference method at the Prandtl number Pr = 6; the aspect ratio A = 1; the Lewis number Le = 100; the buoyancy ratio N = 0.5, 1, or 2; and the Rayleigh number Ra = 10 5 , 10 6 , or 10 7 . Salt finger occurred earlier for large N, but the shape of the finger was almost identical to those for other N's. At high Ra the temperature gradient was steep and then a number of fingers were formed. In the three-dimensional (3D) analyses the salt-finger shape was similar to those of twodimensional (2D) analyses. The cylindrical Benard-type roll cell convection occurred near the interface with the diffusion of heat, and many salt fingers grow up from the Benardtype convection. The fingers locate in order up and down with the increase in distance from midheight.