A horizontal flow induced by a vertical heated wall with a low Prandtl number (e.g., $\text{Pr}<1$ for air and liquid metals) is common in nature and industry. In this paper, a $\text{Pr}<1$ intrusion flow induced by a vertical heated boundary of an open sided cavity (that is, a cavity with one heated wall and open at the other end) is investigated by a scaling analysis and direct numerical simulations. The scaling analysis of the intrusion flow reveals that there are four possible flow regimes dependent on the Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers. In a typical case, the intrusion flow could travel under different dynamical and thermal processes such as unsteady (or steady) conduction-viscous, conduction-inertial, and convection-inertial dominances. Proper scaling relations have been presented to quantify these flows under different flow regimes. Furthermore, corresponding numerical simulations have verified the scaling results.

• Received 22 April 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.82.026318