Numerical Investigations of Convection
Presented at 2011 TeraGrid Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This poster
won the best undergraduate poster award.
Abstract: We report on high resolution numerical studies of infinite Prandtl number convection using
a simplified model with relevance to the motion of the Earth’s mantle. The simulations are
done using pseudospectral Fourier (x-direction) and Chebyshev methods (z-direction).The
model uses the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with the Boussinesq approximation
and free-slip velocity boundary conditions that is driven solely by internal heating.
We examine the transition from conduction to steady convection, to unsteady laminar
convection, and lastly to chaotic convection.
Poster