Nonzero mean oscillatory flow in symmetrically-heated shallow enclosures: An analysis of acoustic streaming

Abstract

The effects of symmetric heating on a nonzero mean oscillatory fluid motion, namely acoustic streaming, in air-filled shallow enclosures and associated thermal convection in transient regime are investigated numerically. The fluid motion is driven by periodic vibration of the enclosure left wall. The vertical walls of the enclosure are adiabatic while the horizontal walls are heated symmetrically. A control-volume method-based explicit time-marching flux-corrected transport algorithm is used to simulate the transport phenomena in the enclosure. A symmetric temperature gradient strongly affects the acoustic streaming structures and velocities. The variation of the steady flow field becomes more noticeable and drastic with increasing wall temperature.