Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2025

An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
Dynamics of a single-phase natural circulation system under harmonic excitation
Arnab Ghosh Mazumder1, Ritabrata Saha2, Sirshendu Mondal3
1School of Nuclear Studies and Application, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India.
Abstract:
A natural circulation system (NCS) has a broad application in the sector of thermal engineering, for example, in nuclear reactors due to its capability in transferring heat without any support of external power or a mechanical device. NCSs, although designed for steady operation, have been found to exhibit dynamical behavior, such as periodic oscillations, depending on the input heater power. The heater power, otherwise assumed to be steady, can be fluctuating in practice. The present study focuses on the dynamics of a single-phase square NCS, which exhibits periodic dynamics and is subjected to an external harmonic perturbation (chosen as the simplest form of fluctuation) over the steady heater power. The objective of the study is to study the dynamics of NCS under external (harmonic) disturbances using the framework of forced synchronization. Toward that, a 1D transient model of a square-shaped NCS is simulated with harmonically forced input power. The transition in the nature of synchronization between mass flux oscillations and the external forcing has been characterized by varying the frequency and amplitude of external perturbation independently. We find different nonlinear effects of the harmonic forcing, such as exhibition of quasiperiodic dynamics, frequency pulling/pushing, and frequency locking or forced synchronization. The aforementioned characterization techniques open up an avenue for detailed analysis of the more complex type of fluctuating input heat in real systems.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Damping
Damped Oscillations
Although friction and other non-conservative...
Second Order systems II
Types of Responses of Series RLC Circuits
One-Degree-of-Freedom System
A one-degree-of-freedom system is defined by an independent variable that determines its state and behavior. One example of a one-degree-of-freedom system is a simple harmonic oscillator, such as a...
Forced Oscillations

