Chaotic advection in a 2-D mixed convection flow.

Two-dimensional numerical simulations of particle advection in a channel flow with spatially periodic heating have been carried out. The velocity field is found to be periodic above a critical Rayleigh number of around 18 000 and a Reynolds number of 10. Particle motion becomes chaotic in the lower half plane almost immediately after this critical value is surpassed, as characterized by the power spectral density and Poincare section of the flow. As the Rayleigh number is increased further, particle motion in the entire domain becomes chaotic. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.