Proceedings of the 13th Asian Congress of Fluid Mechanics 17-21 December 2010, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Effect of gravity modulation on convection in non-Newtonian fluid saturated porous media

T. Sivakumar*, S. Saravanan
Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India. *E-mail of presenting author: thirumalaisiva@gmail.com

Abstract

Linear stability theory is used to investigate analytically the onset of convection in a non-Newtonian fluid saturated porous layer heated from below. The gravitational field consists of a constant part and a sinusoidally varying part. The Brinkman model is used to describe the flow. An analysis based on Floquet theory is adopted and the dispersion relation is constructed in an explicit form with the help of the continued fraction technique. This relation allows us to avoid the conventional restriction to the case of small amplitude or high frequency gravity modulations. Computations were carried out for a wider range of parameters and the regions of parametric resonances corresponding to synchronous and subharmonic modes are determined. It is also found that as the modulation frequency is continuously increased the critical limits reach the unmodulated results faster compared to the case when the fluid is Newtonian.

Malashetty and MahenteshSwamy [3] have investigated the effect of anisotropy in a viscoelastic fluid saturated horizontal porous layer by considering the Oldroyd B type fluid. They found that the fluid elasticity and the specific heat ratio inhibit the onset of oscillatory instability. Rayleigh Be nard convection subject to time dependent body forces is of great interest because of the induced change in the stability bounds and their practical implications. Time dependent gravity may be realized by vertically oscillating a fluid layer in a constant gravitational field. Gresho and Sani [4] first studied the effect of sinusoidal gravity modulation with low amplitude approximation. They found that the system may be stabilized in the same manner as an inverted pendulum is stabilized by vertical oscillations. Much work has been done for pure fluids in this area and a study of modulation in porous media is quite recent. Zenkovskaya and Rogovenko [5] have investigated this problem by the use of averaging method subject to high frequency oscillations in an arbitrary direction. It was found that horizontal oscillation has a destabilizing effect in the case of zero and micro gravities. Recently, Saravanan and Purusothaman [6] have carried out an investigation to find the effect of non-Darcian effects in an anisotropic porous medium and found they affect the synchronous mode of instability significantly. Previous studies were restricted to the case high frequency [5] or small amplitude [6] of vibration due to the limitations of the methods of solutions adopted. The application of the method of continued fractions eliminates these restrictions and enables consideration of arbitrary modulation parameters. Recently, Natalia [7] has successfully used this method in the investigation of gravity modulation in a Darcian porous layer and verified its prediction in the low and high frequency limits. In the present work, we investigate the effect of gravity modulations of arbitrary amplitude and frequency on the onset of convection in a horizontal layer of porous medium saturated with a nonNewtonian fluid.

Keywords gravity modulation, convection, porous medium 1. Introduction

Thermal convective instability in fluid saturated porous media has gained considerable attention in recent years because of its relevance in a wide range of applications. Among the applications in engineering disciplines one can find geothermal energy utilization, building thermal insulation and underground spreading of chemical wastes. More detailed theoretical and experimental discussions of thermal convection in porous media are well documented in Nield and Bejan [1]. Thermal convection seriously affects and leaves a negative effect on the growth rate of crystals fabricated in industries and hence the knowledge of thermal convection in mushy layers is important. In fact one is interested to improve the quality of crystals produced by suppressing the unwanted effect of convection through techniques like applying magnetic fields, maintaining low gravity environments, introducing gravity modulations, etc. Thermal convection of Newtonian fluids in porous media has been widely investigated so far. Recently, the study of non-Newtonian flow through porous media has become considerably important in various areas of science and technology, such as material processing and chemical and nuclear industries. Rudraiah et al. [2] studied linear stability of a viscoelastic fluid saturated sparsely packed porous layer heated from below using the Darcy BrinkmanJeffreys model with different boundary combinations. It was found that for certain combinations of viscoelastic parameters, the flow is overstable. Recently,

2. Mathematical formulation
We consider a Brinkman porous medium saturated with a non-Newtonian fluid, confined between two horizontal surfaces z = 0 and z = d of infinite extent maintained at temperatures T1 and T2 respectively ( T1 > T2 ). The nonNewtonian fluid is assumed to be of viscoelastic nature

1076 | P a g e

described by Oldroyd-B model. We assume that the layer is subjected to vertical harmonic vibrations of arbitrary amplitude and frequency and the porous medium is homogeneous and isotropic. The dimensional equations governing the above system under the assumption of the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation are 1 1 v + 2 v v = 1 + 1 [ Tg (t )k 1 + 1 t t t 1 (1) p] + 1 + 2 2 v v t K T + v T = 2 T t (2) v = 0 (3) where v = (v1 , v 2 , v 3 ) is the filtration velocity, p the pressure, T the temperature, the porosity, K the
permeability, the density, the kinematic viscosity, 1 stress relaxation time, 2 strain relaxation time, the

the unit vector directed thermal expansion coefficient, k vertically upward, the thermal diffusivity of the porous
medium and = ( C p ) m ( C p ) f the heat capacity ratio of the porous medium and fluid. The time dependent gravitational field is taken to be g (t ) = g 0 + A 2 f ( ) / where g 0 is the reference acceleration level, A the modulation amplitude, the modulation frequency and f ( ) the 2 -periodic function with zero 2 -average. We study the stability of the following quiescent basic state v 0 = 0, T 0 = T1 Cz, where C = T1 T2 / h, using the method of small perturbations. The following scales are used to nondimensionalize the variables: h 2 v v 2 ( x, t , v , p , T ) h, v , h , K , Ch The non-dimensional governing equations are u q c1 + 1 = 1 + 1 Gr (1 + f ( ) ) k t t t + 1 + 2 Da 2 u u t 1 u3 = 2 t Pr u = 0

The appropriate boundary conditions we consider are the ( ( ( 2 4 stress free conditions = 2 = 4 = 0 at z = 0 and z = 1. z z We eliminated the pressure and performed the normal mode analysis. From the resulting equation the z ( variable is separated by taking = sin(lz)(t ), l = 1,2,3,... and we arrive at m 2 P1 ~ ~ P1 ( t ) + + + P2 P + P2 Da m 2 P 1 ( t ) P m2 ~ 2 2 4 + P + P + Da m P + P2 m + Da m P2 ( t ) (7) ~ 2 ~ ~~ ( ( ) ) + ( Da m 4 + m 2 )( t ) = Ra t t 1 cos [ ( ) m2 2 ~ ~ ~P Ra sin ( ~~ + P1 ( t )] + 2 t )( t ) 1 m where t 1 2 Pr ~ t = ,P = , P1 = , P2 = , c Pr c Pr c Pr c ~ = Pr c , m 2 = (l) 2 + 2 , f ( ) = cos

and Ra = Gr Pr is the Rayleigh number. For notational ~ ~ will be subsequently convenience, tilde from t and omitted. Following Floquet theory, we search for the solution to Eqn. (7) in the form enlighten

= e t

n =

an ein t

(8)

is the Floquet exponent which defines the where the behaviour of the perturbation with time. Substitution of Eqn. (8) into Eqn. (7) yields an infinite tridiagonal system of linear algebraic equations for determination of unknown coefficient a n : M n an + qn1 an1 + qn+1 an+1 = 0, n = ..., 2, 1, 0,1, 2, ... (9) Now we use the continued fraction method to solve the above linear system. Substituting n = n 1 / n ( n 0) transforms the system (9) into q (10) qn 1 n + n+1 = 0, n = ..., 2, 1, 0,1, 2, ... Mn + n +1 The validity of the transformation from Eqn. (9) to Eqn. (10) was discussed by Natalia [7] and it is proved that none can become zero for a solution of the of the coefficients system (9). From Eqn. (10), using complex fractions, we derive two different recurrence relations for the unknown n which in turn yield two different continued fractions. Assigning n = 0 in these leads to the following dispersion equation for the Floquet exponent in the explicit form q0 q1 q0 q1 M0 = (11) q1q2 q1q2 M1 M 1 q2 q3 q q M2 M 2 2 3 M 3 ... M 3 ...

]
(4) (5)

where Da = K relaxation parameter,

/ h2

(6) the Darcy number, 1 = 1 / h the stress

2

parameter, 2 = 2 / h 2 strain retardation c = Da / the ratio of dimensionless

permeability to the porosity, Gr = Ch 2 g 0 K / 2 the filtration Grashof number, Pr = / the Prandlt number,

= A 2 / g 0
= h 2

the

non-dimensional

amplitude

and

/ the non-dimensional frequency of modulation.

1077 | P a g e

from which we can determine the values of the Floquet exponent . The Eqn. (11) is simplified to the real form when = 0 corresponding to the synchronous mode with period 2 / and when = i / 2 corresponding to the subharmonic mode with period 4 / . When = 0 we have the symmetry M n = M n (bar denotes the complex conjugate) and hence Eqn. (11) reduces to M0 q0 q1 Re (12) = q1q2 M1 2 q 2 q3 M2 M 3 ... When = i / 2 we have the symmetry M n = M n 1 and hence Eqn. (11) becomes
2

( 1 = 2 = 0 ) fluids. In the present study, we fixed Da = c = 0.1, Pr = 10, = 1 and l = 1. The solutions to Eqn. (9) through the Floquet analysis exhibit marginal curves consisting of an array of loopshaped branches indicating the emergence of instability. We confirmed that this type of marginal curve cannot be predicted if we restrict our analysis to low amplitude as in [3, 6]. In Fig. (1), we have shown these loopshaped regions as a function of wavenumber for = 200 and = 10 . The instability region comprises of alternate regions of synchronous (horizontal lines) and subharmonic (cross lines) modes. Each loop has a minimum Rayleigh number at which the unstable region terminates and the global minimum of these Rayleigh numbers is referred to as the critical Rayleigh number. It occurs at the bottommost loop which is subharmonic in the nonNewtonian fluid case (see Fig .1 (a)) whereas synchronous in the Newtonian fluid case (Fig. 1(b)). Comparing Figs. 1 (a) and (b), we observe growth of the loops towards the region of large wavenumber and Rayleigh number in the nonNewtonian fluid case.

q0 q1 2 = q0 (13) q1q2 M1 q2 q3 M2 M 3 ... The transcendental equations (12) and (13) are solved then to obtain the marginal curves of Ra against . Prior to that convergence of the continued fraction method was verified numerically and the continued fractions were truncated once the desired precision is achieved. The critical Rayleigh number Rac is obtained by minimizing Ra against . The wave number c corresponding to Rac is the critical wave number. M0

3. Results and discussion

The effect of vertical harmonic vibration on the onset of convection in a viscoelastic fluid saturated porous medium is investigated. Before discussing the results, it is of interest to compare our results with previous ones. By setting = = n = 0 in Eqn. (9), we obtained the relation for Rayleigh number corresponding to the monotonic case of the unmodulated problem Ra0 = ( Da m 2 + 1)m 4 / 2 . We note that this expression is independent of viscoelastic parameters and hence applicable for Newtonian fluids as well. For Da = 0 it leads to Ra c = 4 2 and c = , the well known criteria for the Darcy model. In the limiting case Da wet get Ra 0 c / Da = 27 4 / 4 and c = / 2 the results of classical Rayleigh-Benard problem with stress free boundaries. The expression (7) contains, in particular, the corresponding result of [7] for 1 = 2 = Da = 0 , the Darcy model. Marginal and critical curves are constructed as functions of modulation amplitude and frequency for the non-Newtonian ( 1 = 0.001 and 2 = 0.1 ) and Newtonian
1078 | P a g e

Fig. 1(a)

Fig. 1(b) We are interested in finding the influential mode at which the instability sets in. The critical Rayleigh number and the critical wavenumber against modulation frequency are shown in Fig. 2 (a) and (b) respectively for different values of . We notice that for lower value of the effect

of modulation is insignificant and practically does not affect the unmodulated result throughout the range of frequency investigated. The onset of convection is also via the synchronous mode (solid line) throughout the range. For = 20 in the case of non-Newtonian fluid, Rac increases and is of subharmonic (dashed line) type at low frequency until reaches a certain value, called transition frequency, beyond which the type of instability changes to synchronous mode and Rac decreases. The corresponding c plotted in Fig. 2(b) shows an increasing trend against with a jump at the transition frequency. It is of interest to mention the change in the marginal curves near the transition frequency. A thin loopshaped marginal curve emerges and develops in the low wavenumber region and becomes dominant at the transition frequency. In the Newtonian case, we observe one more transition at a lower frequency. We observe that when = 200 the subharmonic mode spreads over a wider range of .
10 4
(i) Oldroyd - B (ii) Newtonian

case. Also Rac and c reach the unmodulated limits rapidly in the non-Newtonian case for an increase in .

4. Conclusions
The onset of convection in a non-Newtonian fluid saturated porous layer is investigated using Darcy Brinkman model under vertical harmonic vibration. Floquet theory and continued fraction method are used to find the onset conditions for arbitrary values of vibration parameters. Loopshaped marginal curves and critical boundaries are constructed as a function of modulation amplitude and frequency. It is found that in the non-Newtonian case, the loopshaped marginal curves are different in shape and grows towards the region of large wavenumber and Rayleigh number. Also the study reveals that modulation with small amplitude leads to convection pattern of synchronous type.

Acknowledgement
The authors thank University Grants Commission, India for its support through DRS Special Assistance Programme in Fluid Dynamics. This work was carried out as a part of a research project (Grant No. 25(0169)/09/EMR-II) awarded by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. Its financial assistance to one of the authors (T.S.) in the form of Senior Research Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged.

1 = 0.001, 2 = 0.1 1 = 2 = 0
(i)

10 3 Ra C 10 2 =2

= 20

(ii)

(i) (ii)

References
[1]. Nield, D. A., and Bejan, A. 1999, Convection in Porous Media, Springer, New Yark. [2]. Rudraiah, N., Radhadevi, P. V., and Kaloni, P. N., Convection in a viscoelastic fluid-saturated sparsely packed porous layer. Can. J. Phys., Vol. 68(12), pp. 1446 1453, 1990. [3]. Malashetty, M., Mahentesh Swamy, The onset of convection in a viscoelastic liquid saturated anisotropic porous layer, Trans. Porous Media, Vol. 67, pp. 203218, 2007. [4]. Gresho, P. M., and Sani, R. L., The effects of gravity modulation on the stability of a heated fluid layer. J. Fluid Mech., Vol. 40, pp. 783 806, 1970. [5]. Zenkovskaya, S. M., and Rogovenko, T. N., Filtration convection in a high-frequency vibration field. J. Appl. Mech. Tech. Phys., Vol. 40, pp. 379 385, 1999. [6]. Saravanan, S., Purusothaman, A., 2009. Floquet instability of a gravity modulated Rayleigh-Benard problem in an anisotropic porous medium. Int. J. Thermal Sciences, 48(11), pp. 2085 2091, 2009. [7]. Natalia, S., Effect of vertical modulation on the onset of filtration convection. J.Math. Fluid Mech., Vol. 10, pp. 488 502, 2008.

10 1

= 200

10 0 10 1

10 2

10 3

Fig. 2(a)
6.0 (i) Oldroyd - B 1 = 0.001, 2 = 0.1 (ii) Newtonian 1 = 2 = 0 = 20 4.5 aC 3.0
(i)

= 200

(ii)

=2 1.5
(i) (ii)

= 20 = 200
(i)

0.0 10 1

10 2

10 3

Fig. 2(b) Moreover in the high- limit, Rac Ra0c as expected, i.e., the effect of modulation dies down for sufficiently high frequencies. We also notice that the maximum Rac at the transition frequency is always higher for the non-Newtonian

1079 | P a g e