Numerical Investigation of Thermal Counterflow of He II Past Cylinders

Cyprien Soulaine (1, 2) , Michel Quintard (2) , Bertrand Baudouy (3) , Rob van Weelderen (4)

1 Stanford University
2 IMFT - Institut de mécanique des fluides de Toulouse
3 DACM - Département des Accélérateurs, de Cryogénie et de Magnétisme (ex SACM)
4 CERN [Genève]

We investigate numerically, for the first time, the thermal counterflow of superfluid helium past acylinder by solving with a finite volume method the complete so-called two-fluid model. In agreement withexisting experimental results, we obtain symmetrical eddies both up- and downstream of the obstacle. Thegeneration of these eddies is a complex transient phenomenon that involves the friction of the normal fluidcomponent with the solid walls and the mutual friction between the superfluid and normal components.Implications for flow in a more realistic porous medium are also investigated.

Mots clés: Flows in porous media; Superfluidity

Domaines: Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

Cyprien Soulaine, Michel Quintard, Bertrand Baudouy, Rob van Weelderen. Numerical Investigation of Thermal Counterflow of He II Past Cylinders. Physical Review Letters, 2017, 118 (7), pp.074506. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.074506⟩. ⟨hal-01582409⟩