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The solidification of buoyancy-driven flow in a flexible-walled channel. Part 1. Constant-volume release

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

John R. Lister
John R. Lister*
Affiliation:
Institute of Theoretical Geophysics, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Silver Street, CambridgeCB3 9EW, UK
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Abstract

The solidification of hot fluid flowing in a thin buoyancy-driven layer between cold solid boundaries is analysed in a series of two papers. As an approximation to flow in a crack in a weakly elastic solid or to free-surface flow beneath a thin solidified crust, the boundaries are considered to be flexible and to exert negligible resistance to lateral deformation. The resultant equations of continuity and motion reduce to a kinematic-wave equation with a loss term corresponding to the accumulation of solidified material at the boundaries. The Stefan problem for the solidification is coupled back to the flow through the advection of heat by the fluid, which competes with lateral heat loss by conduction to the solid. Heat and mass conservation are used to derive boundary conditions at the propagating nose of the flow. In this paper the two-dimensional flow produced by a line release of a given volume of fluid is investigated. It is shown that at short times the flow solidifies completely only near the point of release where the flow is thinnest, at later times complete solidification also occurs near the nose of the flow where the cooling rates are greatest and, eventually, the flow is completely solidified along its depth. Some transient melting of the boundaries can also occur if the fluid is initially above its solidification temperature. The dimensionless equations are parameterized only in terms of a Stefan number S and a dimensionless solidification temperature Θ. Asymptotic solutions for the flow at short times and near the source are derived by perturbation series and similarity arguments. The general evolution of the flow is calculated numerically, and the scaled time to final solidification, the length and the thickness of the solidified product are determined as functions of S and Θ. The theoretical solutions provide simple models of the release of a pulse of magma into a fissure in the Earth's lithosphere or of lava flow on the flanks of a volcano after a brief eruption. Other geological events are better modelled as flows fed by a continual supply of hot fluid. The solidification of such flows will be investigated in Part 2.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 272 , 10 August 1994 , pp. 21 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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