On the Features of Convection in a Compressible Gas

Abstract

The problem of Rayleigh-Benard convection in a compressible, viscous and heat-conducting gas is considered. By solving the complete nonlinear system of equations of gas dynamics, the neutral curve for air under normal conditions is calculated as function of the domain height. The formula for critical height of domain is derived analytically. It is established that the isobaric convection regime is realized when the height of the region is less than the critical value, and when the height of the region exceeds this critical value, the convection regime is superadiabatic. During convection in the superadiabatic regime, its adiabatic suppression is observed. Within the framework of the isobaric convection regime, the limits of applicability of the Boussinesq approach are determined.