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  • Open Access

Physical Mechanism behind the Early Onset of the Ultimate State in Supergravitational Centrifugal Thermal Convection

Lei Ren1, Jun Zhong1, Rushi Lai2, and Chao Sun1,2,*

  • 1New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Center for Combustion Energy, Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of MoE, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
  • 2Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

  • *Contact author: chaosun@tsinghua.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 214002 – Published 28 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/36c8-2jy3

Abstract

We present a combined experimental and numerical investigation of the transition from the classical to the ultimate regime of thermal turbulence in a supergravitational centrifugal convection system. The transition is found to be robust, with the critical Rayleigh number decreasing systematically as the Froude number, defined as the ratio of centrifugal to Earth’s gravity, decreases, highlighting the effect of residual gravity. Once the Rayleigh number reaches the transition threshold, the Stewartson layer induced by residual Earth gravity becomes comparable in thickness to the viscous boundary layer, and their interaction results in a coupled flow that distorts the viscous boundary layer, triggering its transition from laminar to turbulent flow and leading to a sharp increase in heat transport. These findings demonstrate the key role of the Stewartson layer induced by residual gravity in facilitating the transition to the ultimate regime in supergravitational centrifugal thermal convection.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 214002– Published 28 May, 2026
  • Received 15 September 2025
  • Revised 5 November 2025
  • Accepted 20 April 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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