Numerical study of thermoacoustic waves in an enclosure

The behavior of thermoacoustic waves in a nitrogen-filled two-dimensional cavity is numerically studied in order to investigate how these waves may be used as an effective heat removal mechanism. The compressible, unsteady Navier-Stokes equations were solved for a series of initial conditions by combining a flux-corrected transport algorithm for convection with models for temperature-dependent viscosity and thermal conduction. By considering a one-dimensional test problem and comparing the results to existing data, the accuracy of the present numerical method is verified. In the problems considered, the vertical walls of a cavity were heated or cooled to generate the thermoacoustic waves. Both impulsive and gradual changes of the wall temperatures were considered. When the vertical wall was heated impulsively and nonuniformly, the waves induced two-dimensional flows within the enclosure. The observed thermoacoustic waves oscillate and eventually decay due to viscous and heat dissipation. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-6631(00)02505-8].