M. Debacq et al., Self-similar concentration profiles in buoyant mixing of miscible fluids in a vertical tube, PHYS FLUIDS, 13(11), 2001, pp. 3097-3100
The influence of the density contrast (characterized by the Atwood number A
t) on gravity-induced mixing between two miscible fluids in a long vertical
tube has been studied experimentally. Cross-section averaged fluid concent
ration profiles along the tube are measured optically: for large enough At
values, they display a self-similar dependence in a broad range of times an
d distances and verify a diffusion law with an effective diffusivity 10(5)
times higher than for molecular diffusion. At lower At values, this diffusi
ve domain is limited by a sharp front moving at a velocity increasing with
At. Below a threshold At value the diffusive behavior disappears. (C) 2001
American Institute of Physics.