A numerical study of the coupling between Rayleigh streaming and heat transfer at high acoustic level

Complex coupling between thermal effects and Rayleigh streaming in a standing wave guide at high acoustic levels is analyzed numerically. The approach is guided by the recent analytical study, showing that reverse streaming cells can form if the nonlinear Reynolds number exceeds a value depending on the wave frequency and thermophysical properties of the fluid and solid wall. A numerical configuration is introduced to investigate the evolution of the streaming flow structure and the average temperature field at high acoustic levels. Special attention is given to inhibit the development of shock waves. The heat conduction is accounted for in the wall. As the acoustic level is increased, the average temperature field becomes stratified transversely. The simulations show the relevance of the criterion for characterizing the appearance of additional contrarotating streaming cells near the acoustic velocity antinodes. For higher acoustic levels, these additional cells evolve into increasingly large stagnant zones, where the streaming flow is of very small amplitude and the contours of temperature are stratified longitudinally. The overall outer streaming flow decreases. These results are consistent with previous experimental observations, showing that the intrinsic coupling between the thermal effects and acoustic streaming at high levels is very well described.