An experimental study was carried out to investigate the mixing process of a two-layer stratified fluid in a laterally heated enclosure. Due to the lateral heating of the enclosure, a circulating flow is induced in each layer such that the interface separating the layers is simultaneously exposed to destabilizing shear and double diffusive convection. The main goal of this work s to investigate the role of the interfacial instabilities in the mixing process of the two-layer system. The experiments were carried out in a box with inner dimensions of 10 x 10 x 10 cm. Two sidewalls of the box were made of stainless steel and served as heat exchangers, and the two other sidewalls were made of optical glass to facilitate flow visualization. The criterion for the onset of interfacial instabilities and the mixing time of the system were studied experimentally. The results show that when the flow adjacent to the interface is unstable, it is characterized by intense vortices and the mixing time is relatively short. On the other hand, when the interfacial flow is stable, no vortices exist at the interface and the mixing time is much longer.
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机译：进行了一项实验研究，以研究两层分层流体在侧向加热外壳中的混合过程。由于外壳的侧向加热，在每个层中引起循环流，从而使分离各层的界面同时暴露于不稳定的剪切力和双重扩散对流中。这项工作的主要目的是研究界面不稳定性在两层系统混合过程中的作用。实验在内部尺寸为10 x 10 x 10 cm的盒子中进行。盒子的两个侧壁由不锈钢制成，并用作热交换器，另外两个侧壁由光学玻璃制成，以方便流动可视化。实验研究了界面不稳定性的起因和系统的混合时间。结果表明，当界面附近的流动不稳定时，其特点是涡旋强烈，混合时间较短。另一方面，当界面流动稳定时，在界面处不存在涡旋，并且混合时间更长。
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