A two-fluid model of mixing in a two-dimensional enclosure

Mixing of fluids in a cavity under isothermal and nonisothermal conditions is studied with a two-fluid model. This model involves the solution of separate transport equations for zone-averaged variables of each fluid with allowance for interface transport of momentum and energy. The effects of thermal and potential energy driven convection as well as Prandtl number are investigated. The material interface is represented by the contour of the volume fraction separating the fluids. The effect of the buoyancy force due to the initial potential energy of the fluids is found to predominate over thermal buoyancy for comparable Grashof numbers.