Rayleigh–Bénard convection
Type of heat transfer within fluids / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In fluid thermodynamics, Rayleigh–Bénard convection is a type of natural convection, occurring in a planar horizontal layer of fluid heated from below, in which the fluid develops a regular pattern of convection cells known as Bénard cells. Such systems were first investigated by Boussinesq[1] and Oberbeck[2] in the 19th century. This phenomenon can also manifest where a species denser than the electrolyte is consumed from below and generated at the top.[3] Bénard–Rayleigh convection is one of the most commonly studied convection phenomena because of its analytical and experimental accessibility.[4] The convection patterns are the most carefully examined example of self-organizing nonlinear systems.[4][5] Time-dependent self-similar analytic solutions are known for the velocity fields and for the temperature distribution as well.[6][7]
Buoyancy, and hence gravity, are responsible for the appearance of convection cells. The initial movement is the upwelling of less-dense fluid from the warmer bottom layer.[8] This upwelling spontaneously organizes into a regular pattern of cells.