ABSTRACT CTS-9320404 Jiang The proposed research focuses on the investigation of natural convection in silicone oils contained in shallow rotating cylinders. To evaluate the phenomena involved, a scaling analysis will be performed to study the interaction of buoyancy, centrifugal, Coriolis, and viscous forces, in an effort to obtain a transport correlation for the range of parameters to be studied. To evaluate the accuracy of the work, an experimental investigation will also be conducted. The heat transfer rate and temperature distributions will be measured to determine the thermal boundary layers and transport correlation. Visualization of the flow field will be achieved by using a photochromic technique associated with ultraviolet optical fiber probes to reveal the nature of the convective flow. Based upon the combined experimental and scaling results, a heat transport correlation will be developed for use in applications involving rotating Ni-Zn batteries.
