FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF TWO DIMENSIONAL RAYLEIGH‐BENARD CONVECTION WITH GRAVITY MODULATION EFFECTS

Sinusoidal gravity modulation fields imposed on two‐dimensional Rayleigh‐Benard convection flow are studied to understand the effects of periodic source (g‐jitter) on fluids system and heat transfer mechanism. The transient Navier‐Stokes and energy equations are solved by semi‐implicit operator splitting finite element method. Results include two sets. One is considered at normal terrestrial condition and the other one is related to low‐gravity condition. Under low‐gravity condition the research focuses on the effects of modulation frequency and direction in order to find out the critical frequency for heat transfer mechanism transferring from conduction to convection.