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Updated: Dec 19, 2025

Experimental Methodology for Estimation of Local Heat Fluxes and Burning Rates in Steady Laminar Boundary Layer Diffusion Flames
Published on: June 1, 2016
Vibration-induced boundary-layer destabilization achieves massive heat-transport enhancement
Bo-Fu Wang1, Quan Zhou1, Chao Sun2
1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mechanics in Energy Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China.
Abstract:
Thermal turbulence is well known as a potent means to convey heat across space by a moving fluid. The existence of the boundary layers near the plates, however, bottlenecks its heat-exchange capability. Here, we conceptualize a mechanism of thermal vibrational turbulence that breaks through the boundary-layer limitation and achieves massive heat-transport enhancement. When horizontal vibration is applied to the convection cell, a strong shear is induced to the body of fluid near the conducting plates, which destabilizes thermal boundary layers, vigorously triggers the eruptions of thermal plumes, and leads to a heat-transport enhancement by up to 600%. We further reveal that such a vibration-induced shear can very efficiently disrupt the boundary layers. The present findings open a new avenue for research into heat transport and will also bring profound changes in many industrial applications where thermal flux through a fluid is involved and the mechanical vibration is usually inevitable.
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