Variation of temperature in time and space was recorded at multiple vertical locations in the course of initiation of a heated water layer in an open-pool research reactor of the Soreq Nuclear Research Center. The pool was initially filled with warm water, and heavier cooler water was then injected at the bottom of the facility. Different modes of coolant injection were employed in two different experiments. In both cases, a finite width thermocline that separated cool water at the lower part of the pool from the warm water in its upper part was observed. The thermocline gradually moved up eventually attaining a constant raise velocity. In both experiments, the thermocline characteristics were different, but wave-trains with notable temperature fluctuations were observed within the thermocline. The characteristic frequencies of oscillations were below the Brunt–Väisälä frequencies that characterize the density gradient within the thermoclines. The finite dimensions of the tank impose conditions in which standing internal waves with the length commensurate with tank size can be expected. The oscillations were thus associated with resonant internal waves excited by disturbances introduced by the coolant flow at the lower part of the pool. In both experiments, the measured wave spectra agree with the results of linear analysis of two-layer and three-layer stratification models.
Flows of electrically conducting fluids under the action of external magnetic field present an example of strongly anisotropic turbulence. Such flows are not only important for different engineering applications, but also provide an interesting framework for studies of quasi-two-dimensional turbulence with strongly modified transport properties in easily controllable laboratory experiments. We present theoretical results that advance our understanding of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows with low magnetic Reynolds number by treating this phenomenon within the quasi-normal scale elimination (QNSE) theory. Previous applications of the theory to turbulent flows with stable stratification and solid body rotation have demonstrated that QNSE is a powerful tool for studies of anisotropic turbulent flows. We derive expressions for scale-dependent eddy viscosities and eddy diffusivities in the directions parallel and normal to the external magnetic field and investigate progressive anisotropization of turbulent transport of momentum and passive scalar. The theory yields analytical expressions for anisotropic one-dimensional spectra of MHD turbulence. In particular, the theory sheds light upon the modification of the Kolmogorov k−5/3 spectrum by anisotropic Ohmic (Joule) dissipation.
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