Numerical Simulation of a Thermoacoustic Refrigerator II. Stratified Flow around the Stack

Abstract

The unsteady, two-dimensional, thermally stratified flow in the neighborhood of an idealized thermoacoustic stack is analyzed using a low-Mach-number model that extends the adiabatic flow scheme developed in part I (J. Comput. Phys. 127, 424 (1996)). The extension consists of incorporation of numerical solvers for the energy equations in the fluid and the stack plates, and construction and implementation of fast Poisson solver for the velocity potential based on a domain decomposition/boundary Green's function technique. The unsteady computations are used to predict the steady-state, acoustically generated temperature gradient across a two-dimensional couple and to analyze its dependence on the amplitude of the prevailing resonant wave. Computed results are compared to theoretical predictions and experimental data.