Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 74 / 4

At a fixed height, first determine the stored quantities per unit vertical height and per unit length along the line source. With $\Delta \rho =\rho -{\rho }_0$, the triangular-profile line plume has the useful profile integralThe geometric volume is $\mathcal{A}=2b$; the mass is $\mathcal{D}={\rho }_0{I}_0+\Delta \rho I_1=b(\rho +{\rho }_0)$. The upward momentum is $\mathcal{P}=W({\rho }_0{I}_1+\Delta \rho I_2)$, while the buoyancy force is $\mathcal{B}=-g\Delta \rho I_1$. ThusHere positive buoyancy corresponds to a rising light plume. If instead buoyancy is defined kinematically, divide $\mathcal{B}$ by ${\rho }_0$; the density-weighted convention here is the one matching the printed equations.

Multiply each local density by the vertical velocity to obtain the fluxes through a horizontal section, still per unit source length:In particular, the stored momentum equals the mass flux $Q$, and the buoyancy flux is $F=g({\rho }_{0}V-Q)$. The different triangular-profile factors in storage and flux must not be replaced by top-hat coefficients.

The Batchelor entrainment hypothesis models turbulent ingestion of ambient fluid through the plume edges. A self-similar turbulent plume has a spreading rate proportional to its axial velocity scale; the hypothesis represents the unresolved mixing by an inward edge speed proportional to that scale. For the prescribed centreline velocity, the Boussinesq approximation givesThe entrainment coefficient $\alpha$ is dimensionless and depends on the chosen velocity/profile convention and mixing regime. Here $e$ is the inward entrainment speed relative to the moving plume boundary, and the factor two counts its two sides.

A suitable density-corrected extension is $e=\alpha W\sqrt{\rho /{\rho }_0}$, representing the reduction in ambient ingestion for a much lighter non-Boussinesq plume. It reduces to the boxed closure when $|\rho -{\rho }_0|\ll {\rho }_0$. This is a phenomenological model, not an exact identity for arbitrary turbulent flow. Woods's non-Boussinesq plume model uses this density correction. The balances in part (c) can be written with either closure before taking their common Boussinesq limit.

Apply volume conservation, mass conservation and vertical momentum flux balance to a slice of the triangular-profile line plume. Ambient ingestion contributes $2e$ of volume and $2{\rho }_{0}e$ of mass per unit height and source length. The ambient is quiescent, so it supplies no leading vertical momentum. The integrated driving force is the stored buoyancy $\mathcal{B}$. Using the quantities from part (a), the non-Boussinesq triangular-profile line-plume balances areTogether with Batchelor entrainment, these are three equations for $W,\rho ,b$. They neglect viscous boundary stresses and streamwise pressure-force corrections within the integral-plume approximation.

Multiplying volume conservation by $g{\rho }_0$ and subtracting $g$ times mass conservation cancels the ambient sources exactly, givingThis is buoyancy conservation in the homogeneous ambient; it is a consequence of the first two balances, not an additional independent equation.

Now take the Boussinesq approximation in inertia and entrainment, retaining the small density deficit in buoyancy. Then $Q={\rho }_{0}bW$, $M=(2/3){\rho }_{0}b{W}^2$ and $F=(2/3)gbW({\rho }_0-\rho )$. ConsequentlyThe mass source is $2\alpha {\rho }_{0}W=3\alpha {\rho }_{0}M/Q$. Substitution into the mass conservation, momentum and buoyancy balances gives the unsteady Boussinesq triangular-profile line-plume balancesThese use density-weighted mass and momentum fluxes. Removing ${\rho }_0$ from some flux definitions while retaining it in the source would mix incompatible conventions.

Seek a nonzero-buoyancy, separable similarity solution of the unsteady Boussinesq triangular-profile line-plume balances, using powers of distance and time. Let $\tau =t+t_{\ast }>0$, allowing a time origin, and initially take distance $z$ from the virtual origin. Balancing the powers in the momentum and buoyancy equations and the entrainment balance gives the formOne way to recover the exponents is to let $Q\propto z^a{\tau }^p$ and $M\propto z^b{\tau }^q$. Matching the spatial powers in ${\partial }_t(Q^2/M)$, $Q_z$ and $M/Q$ gives $a=2,b=3$; matching the time powers gives $p=-1,q=-2$. The momentum equation then gives the powers of $F$. In the resulting solution, $Q^2/M$ is time-independent, so the storage term in the first equation vanishes exactly.

Direct substitution yields the coefficient equationsFor a rising buoyant solution $C>0$, the last equation gives $B=2A/3$. The first then gives $A=\alpha {\rho }_0$, and the second gives $C=B$. The separable decaying line-plume similarity is thereforeReconstructing the physical fields confirmsFor example, ${\partial }_t(FQ/M)=-2\alpha {\rho }_0{z}^2/{\tau }^3$ and $F_z=2\alpha {\rho }_0{z}^2/{\tau }^3$ cancel; the momentum balance similarly gives $-\alpha {\rho }_0{z}^2/{\tau }^2+2\alpha {\rho }_0{z}^2/{\tau }^2=FQ/M$.

The unshifted form uses $t_{\ast }=0$ and is defined for $t>0$, with a singular zero-time limit. To give a finite solution for all $t\ge 0$, choose $t_{\ast }>0$. The equations also permit replacing $z$ by $z+z_{\ast }>0$, a plume virtual origin; at a finite physical source distance this family has flux histories proportional to ${\tau }^{-1},{\tau }^{-2},{\tau }^{-3}$. The Boussinesq approximation requires $(z+z_{\ast })/(g{\tau }^2)\ll 1$ in the region modelled. This is a decaying similarity family; its time and virtual origins require source or initial data. The PDF supplies neither, so a unique forced-startup history cannot be selected from it. In particular, the singular unshifted field should not be presented as a regular solution at $t=0$.