High-wavenumber steady solutions of two-dimensional Rayleigh--Bénard convection between stress-free boundaries

Recent investigations show that steady solutions share many features with turbulent Rayleigh--Bénard convection (RBC) and form the state space skeleton of turbulent dynamics. Previous computations of steady roll solutions in two-dimensional (2D) RBC between no-slip boundaries reveal that for fixed Rayleigh number $Ra$ and Prandtl number $Pr$, the heat-flux-maximizing solution is always in the high-wavenumber regime. In this study, we explore the high-wavenumber steady convection roll solutions that bifurcate supercritically from the motionless conductive state for 2D RBC between stress-free boundaries. Our computations confirm the existence of a local heat-flux-maximizing solution in the high-wavenumber regime. To elucidate the asymptotic properties of this solution, we perform computations over eight orders of magnitude in the Rayleigh number, $10^{8} \le Ra \le 10^{16.5}$, and two orders of magnitude in the Prandtl number, $10^{-1} \leq Pr \leq 10^{3/2}$. The numerical results indicate that as $Ra\to\infty$, the local heat-flux-maximizing aspect ratio $\Gamma^*_{loc}\simeq Ra^{-1/4}$, the Nusselt number $Nu(\Gamma^*_{loc})\simeq Ra^{0.29}$, and the Reynolds number $Re(\Gamma^*_{loc})\simeq Pr^{-1}Ra^{2/5}$, with all prefactors depending on $Pr$. Moreover, the interior flow of the local $Nu$-maximizing solution can be well described by an analytical heat-exchanger solution, and the connection to the high-wavenumber asymptotic solution given by Blennerhassett & Bassom is discussed. With a fixed aspect ratio $0.06\le\Gamma\le\pi/5$ at $Pr=1$, however, our computations show that as $Ra$ increases, the steady rolls converge to the semi-analytical asymptotic solutions constructed by Chini & Cox, with scalings $Nu\sim Ra^{1/3}$ and $Re\sim Pr^{-1}Ra^{2/3}$. Finally, a phase diagram is delineated to gain a panorama of steady solutions in the high-Rayleigh-number-wavenumber plane.