Three-dimensional electroconvective vortices in cross flow

This study focuses on the three-dimensional (3D) electrohydrodynamic flow instability between two parallel electrodes driven by unipolar charge injection with and without cross flow. Lattice Boltzmann method with a two-relaxation time model is used to compute flow patterns. In the absence of cross flow, the base-state solution is hydrostatic, and the electric field is one-dimensional. With strong charge injection and high electrical Rayleigh number, the system exhibits electroconvective vortices. Disturbed by perturbation patterns, such as rolling pattern, square pattern, and hexagon pattern, the flow develops corresponding to the most unstable mode. The growth rate and pattern transitions are studied using dynamic mode decomposition of the transient numerical solutions. The interactions between cross flow and electroconvective vortices lead to suppression and disappearance of structures with velocity components in the direction of cross flow, while the other components are not affected. Surprisingly, the transition from a 3D to a 2D flow pattern enhances the convective charge transport, marked by an increase in the electric Nusselt number. Hysteresis in the 3D to 2D transition is characterized by the nondimensional parameter Y, a ratio of the electrical force term to the viscous term in the momentum equation.

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Recommended citation: Yifei Guan, James Riley, and Igor Novosselov. “Three-dimensional electroconvective vortices in cross flow.” Physical Review E 101, no. 3 (2020): 033103.