Further, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of using direct numerical simulations to study buoyantly driven flows. Relevance of this study to flows of engineering interest is shown. This study was a preliminary effort to establish a numerical technique for studying the effects of buoyancy on mixing. The effects are of interest because buoyancy is a common phenomenon. In order to predict pollutant transport, reaction or dispersion characteristics of a flow, it is important to understand the physics taking place.
Weather is driven by temperature induced buoyant flows.
Microbursts are an example of an atmospheric buoyancy reversal where a volume of air is suddenly cooled, perhaps by evaporating rain, becoming heavier than the air below it. This volume of air then sinks, sometimes taking with it airliners and sometimes resulting in tomado conditions as it displaces the air beneath it. Understanding the physics of the flow would help in the efforts to develop prediction capabilities for these dangerous phenomena. As with most modeling processes, a mathematical model was chosen. Therefore, in this study, the complete Navier-Stokes equations were solved for the flow field for each time step.