On the flow induced by centrifugal buoyancy in a differentially-heated rotating cylinder

We consider the nature of thermally stratified flow in a closed cylinder ro tating about the direction of gravity under conditions appropriate for terr estrial laboratory experiments. Motion is driven by centrifugal buoyancy, w ith outflow near the cold disk and inflow near the hot disk. Although simil arity solutions for the infinite disk open-geometry problem exist and are e asily found, even analytically in certain limits, there remain questions ab out the applicability of these spatially simplified models in a closed geom etry with a vertical sidewall. This paper compares theoretical self-similar core solutions with computational simulations constructed to satisfy a wid e range of sidewall thermal boundary conditions; insulating, conducting (wi th a linear temperature profile up the wall), hot (isothermal), or cold. Th e width of penetration of sidewall influence in toward the axis of rotation depends on the sidewall thermal boundary condition. However, as the cylind er radius is increased for a fixed height, a substantial region of the cont ainer about the axis is accurately described by the thermocline solutions o f the theory. The non-self-similar region at large radius can include separ ation of the lower outflow boundary layer, a feature not evident in previou s studies of this problem.