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1.
O. M. Podvigina 《Izvestiya Physics of the Solid Earth》2011,47(5):440-445
The onset of Boussinesq convection in a horizontal layer of an electrically conducting incompressible fluid is considered.
The layer rotating about a vertical axis is heated from below; a vertical magnetic field is imposed. Rigid electrically insulating
boundaries are assumed. The loss of stability of the trivial steady state, which occurs as the Rayleigh numbers increase,
can be accompanied by the development of a monotonic or an oscillatory instability, depending on the parameter values of the
problem at hand (the Taylor number, the Chandrasekhar number, the kinematic and the magnetic Prandtl numbers). When the instability
is monotonic, the emerging convective rolls themselves are also unstable if the Taylor number is sufficiently large (the so-called
Küppers-Lortz instability takes place). In the present work it is studied how the critical value of the Rayleigh number, the
type of the trivial steady state instability, and the critical value of the Taylor number for the Küppers-Lortz instability
depend on the kinematic and the magnetic Prandtl numbers. We consider the values of the Prandtl number not exceeding 1, which
is typical for the outer core of the Earth. 相似文献
2.
Abstract Finite amplitude solutions for convection in a rotating spherical fluid shell with a radius ratio of η=0.4 are obtained numerically by the Galerkin method. The case of the azimuthal wavenumber m=2 is emphasized, but solutions with m=4 are also considered. The pronounced distinction between different modes at low Prandtl numbers found in a preceding linear analysis (Zhang and Busse, 1987) is also found with respect to nonlinear properties. Only the positive-ω-mode exhibits subcritical finite amplitude convection. The stability of the stationary drifting solutions with respect to hydrodynamic disturbances is analyzed and regions of stability are presented. A major part of the paper is concerned with the growth of magnetic disturbances. The critical magnetic Prandtl number for the onset of dynamo action has been determined as function of the Rayleigh and Taylor numbers for the Prandtl numbers P=0.1 and P=1.0. Stationary and oscillatory dynamos with both, dipolar and quadrupolar, symmetries are close competitors in the parameter space of the problem. 相似文献
3.
The magnetohydrodynamic dynamo problem is solved for an electrically conducting spherical fluid shell with spherically symmetric distributions of gravity and heat sources. The dynamics of motions generated by thermal buoyancy are dominated by the effects of rotation of the fluid shell. Dynamos are found for low and intermediate values of the Taylor number, T ? 105, if the scale of the nonaxisymmetric component of the velocity field is sufficiently small. The generation of magnetic fields of quadrupolar symmetry is preferred at Rayleigh numbers close to the critical value Rc for onset of convection. As the Rayleigh number increases, the generation of dipolar magnetic fields becomes preferred. 相似文献
4.
Abstract The linear problem of the onset of convection in rotating spherical shells is analysed numerically in dependence on the Prandtl number. The radius ratio η=r i/r o of the inner and outer radii is generally assumed to be 0.4. But other values of η are also considered. The goal of the analysis has been the clarification of the transition between modes drifting in the retrograde azimuthal direction in the low Taylor number regime and modes traveling in the prograde direction at high Taylor numbers. It is shown that for a given value m of the azimuthal wavenumber a single mode describes the onset of convection of fluids of moderate or high Prandtl number. At low Prandtl numbers, however, three different modes for a given m may describe the onset of convection in dependence on the Taylor number. The characteristic properties of the modes are described and the singularities leading to the separation with decreasing Prandtl number are elucidated. Related results for the problem of finite amplitude convection are also reported. 相似文献
5.
Abstract In a rapidly rotating, electrically conducting fluid we investigate the thermal stability of the fluid in the presence of an imposed toroidal magnetic field and an imposed toroidal differential rotation. We choose a magnetic field profile that is stable. The familiar role of differential rotation is a stabilising one. We wish to examine the less well known destabilising effect that it can have. In a plane layer model (for which we are restricted to Roberts number q = 0) with differential rotation, U = sΩ(z)1 ?, no choice of Ω(z) led to a destabilising effect. However, in a cylindrical geometry (for which our model permits all values of q) we found that differential rotations U = sΩ(s)1 ? which include a substantial proportion of negative gradient (dΩ/ds ≤ 0) give a destabilising effect which is largest when the magnetic Reynolds number R m = O(10); the critical Rayleigh number, Ra c, is about 7% smaller at minimum than at Rm = 0 for q = 106. We also find that as q is reduced, the destabilising effect is diminished and at q = 10?6, which may be more appropriate to the Earth's core, the effect causes a dip in the critical Rayleigh number of only about 0.001%. This suggests that we see no dip in the plane layer results because of the q = 0 condition. In the above results, the Elsasser number A = 1 but the effect of differential rotation is also dependent on A. Earlier work has shown a smooth transition from thermal to differential rotation driven instability at high A [A = O(100)]. We find, at intermediate A [A = O(10)], a dip in the Rac vs. Rm curve similar to the A = 1 case. However, it has Rac ≤ 0 at its minimum and unlike the results for high A, larger values of Rm result in a restabilisation. 相似文献
6.
Gebhard Geiger 《Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors》1982,28(3):185-190
The effects of rotation and a toroidal magnetic field on the preferred pattern of small amplitude convection in spherical fluid shells are considered. The convective motions are described in terms of associated Legendre functions Pl|m| (cos θ). For a given pair of Prandtl number P and magnetic Prandtl number m the physically realized solution is represented either by m = 0 or |m| = l depending on the ratio of the rotation rate Λ to the magnetic field amplitude H. The case of m = 0 is preferred if this ratio ranges below a critical value, which is a function of the shell thickness, and |m| = l otherwise. 相似文献
7.
A. M. Soward 《地球物理与天体物理流体动力学》2013,107(1-4):329-371
Abstract An inviscid, electrically conducting fluid is contained between two rigid horizontal planes and bounded laterally by two vertical walls. The fluid is permeated by a strong uniform horizontal magnetic field aligned with the side wall boundaries and the entire system rotates rapidly about a vertical axis. The ratio of the magnitudes of the Lorentz and Coriolis forces is characterized by the Elsasser number, A, and the ratio of the thermal and magnetic diffusivities, q. By heating the fluid from below and cooling from above the system becomes unstable to small perturbations when the adverse density gradient as measured by the Rayleigh number, R, is sufficiently large. With the viscosity ignored the geostrophic velocity, U, which is aligned with the applied magnetic field, is independent of the coordinate parallel to the rotation axis but is an arbitrary function of the horizontal cross-stream coordinate. At the onset of instability the value of U taken ensures that Taylor's condition is met. Specifically the Lorentz force, which results from marginal convection must not cause any acceleration of the geostrophic flow. It is found that the critical Rayleigh number characterising the onset of instability is generally close to the corresponding value for the usual linear problem, in which Taylor's condition is ignored and U is chosen to vanish. Significant differences can occur when q is small owing to a complicated flow structure. There is a central interior region in which the local magnetic Reynolds number, Rm , based on U is small of order q and on exterior region in which Rm is of order unity. 相似文献
8.
R. L. Jennings 《地球物理与天体物理流体动力学》2013,107(1-4):183-204
Abstract To model penetrative convection at the base of a stellar convection zone we consider two plane parallel, co-rotating Boussinesq layers coupled at their fluid interface. The system is such that the upper layer is unstable to convection while the lower is stable. Following the method of Kondo and Unno (1982, 1983) we calculate critical Rayleigh numbers Rc for a wide class of parameters. Here, Rc is typically much less than in the case of a single layer, although the scaling Rc～T2/3 as T → ∞ still holds, where T is the usual Taylor number. With parameters relevant to the Sun the helicity profile is discontinuous at the interface, and dominated by a large peak in a thin boundary layer beneath the convecting region. In reality the distribution is continuous, but the sharp transition associated with a rapid decline in the effective viscosity in the overshoot region is approximated by a discontinuity here. This source of helicity and its relation to an alpha effect in a mean-field dynamo is especially relevant since it is a generally held view that the overshoot region is the location of magnetic field generation in the Sun. 相似文献
9.
Abstract Numerical simulations of thermal convection in a rapidly rotating spherical fluid shell heated from below and within have been carried out with a nonlinear, three-dimensional, time-dependent pseudospectral code. The investigated phenomena include the sequence of transitions to chaos and the differential mean zonal rotation. At the fixed Taylor number T a =106 and Prandtl number Pr=1 and with increasing Rayleigh number R, convection undergoes a series of bifurcations from onset of steadily propagating motions SP at R=R c = 13050, to a periodic state P, and thence to a quasi-periodic state QP and a non-periodic or chaotic state NP. Examples of SP, P, QP, and NP solutions are obtained at R = 1.3R c , R = 1.7 R c , R = 2R c , and R = 5 R c , respectively. In the SP state, convection rolls propagate at a constant longitudinal phase velocity that is slower than that obtained from the linear calculation at the onset of instability. The P state, characterized by a single frequency and its harmonics, has a two-layer cellular structure in radius. Convection rolls near the upper and lower surfaces of the spherical shell both propagate in a prograde sense with respect to the rotation of the reference frame. The outer convection rolls propagate faster than those near the inner shell. The physical mechanism responsible for the time-periodic oscillations is the differential shear of the convection cells due to the mean zonal flow. Meridional transport of zonal momentum by the convection cells in turn supports the mean zonal differential rotation. In the QP state, the longitudinal wave number m of the convection pattern oscillates among m = 3,4,5, and 6; the convection pattern near the outer shell has larger m than that near the inner shell. Radial motions are very weak in the polar regions. The convection pattern also shifts in m for the NP state at R = 5R c , whose power spectrum is characterized by broadened peaks and broadband background noise. The convection pattern near the outer shell propagates prograde, while the pattern near the inner shell propagates retrograde with respect to the basic rotation. Convection cells exist in polar regions. There is a large variation in the vigor of individual convection cells. An example of a more vigorously convecting chaotic state is obtained at R = 50R c . At this Rayleigh number some of the convection rolls have axes perpendicular to the axis of the basic rotation, indicating a partial relaxation of the rotational constraint. There are strong convective motions in the polar regions. The longitudinally averaged mean zonal flow has an equatorial superrotation and a high latitude subrotation for all cases except R = 50R c , at this highest Rayleigh number, the mean zonal flow pattern is completely reversed, opposite to the solar differential rotation pattern. 相似文献
10.
Abstract We investigate the influence of differential rotation on magnetic instabilities for an electrically conducting fluid in the presence of a toroidal basic state of magnetic field B 0 = BMB0(r, θ)1 φ and flow U0 = UMU0 (r, θ)1φ, [(r, θ, φ) are spherical polar coordinates]. The fluid is confined in a rapidly rotating, electrically insulating, rigid spherical container. In the first instance the influence of differential rotation on established magnetic instabilities is studied. These can belong to either the ideal or the resistive class, both of which have been the subject of extensive research in parts I and II of this series. It was found there, that in the absence of differential rotation, ideal modes (driven by gradients of B 0) become unstable for Ac ? 200 whereas resistive instabilities (generated by magnetic reconnection processes near critical levels, i.e. zeros of B0) require Ac ? 50. Here, Λ is the Elsasser number, a measure of the magnetic field strength and Λc is its critical value at marginal stability. Both types of instability can be stabilised by adding differential rotation into the system. For the resistive modes the exact form of the differential rotation is not important whereas for the ideal modes only a rotation rate which increases outward from the rotation axis has a stabilising effect. We found that in all cases which we investigated Λc increased rapidly and the modes disappeared when Rm ≈ O(ΛC), where the magnetic Reynolds number Rm is a measure of the strength of differential rotation. The main emphasis, however, is on instabilities which are driven by unstable gradients of the differential rotation itself, i.e. an otherwise stable fluid system is destabilised by a suitable differential rotation once the magnetic Reynolds number exceeds a certain critical value (Rm )c. Earlier work in the cylindrical geometry has shown that the differential rotation can generate an instability if Rm ) ?O(Λ). Those results, obtained for a fixed value of Λ = 100 are extended in two ways: to a spherical geometry and to an analysis of the effect of the magnetic field strength Λ on these modes of instability. Calculations confirm that modes driven by unstable gradients of the differential rotation can exist in a sphere and they are in good agreement with the local analysis and the predictions inferred from the cylindrical geometry. For Λ = O(100), the critical value of the magnetic Reynolds number (Rm )c Λ 100, depending on the choice of flow U0 . Modes corresponding to azimuthal wavenumber m = 1 are the most unstable ones. Although the magnetic field B 0 is itself a stable one, the field strength plays an important role for this instability. For all modes investigated, both for cylindrical and spherical geometries, (Rm )c reaches a minimum value for 50 ≈ Λ ≈ 100. If Λ is increased, (Rm )c ∝ Λ, whereas a decrease of Λ leads to a rapid increase of (Rm )c, i.e. a stabilisation of the system. No instability was found for Λ ≈ 10 — 30. Optimum conditions for instability driven by unstable gradients of the differential rotation are therefore achieved for ≈ Λ 50 — 100, Rm ? 100. These values lead to the conclusion that the instabilities can play an important role in the dynamics of the Earth's core. 相似文献
11.
Alice Courvoisier 《地球物理与天体物理流体动力学》2013,107(2):217-243
We look at the large-scale dynamo properties of spatially periodic, time dependent, helical 2D flows of the form u(x, t)?=?(? y ?ψ?(x, y, t), ?? x ?ψ?(x, y, t), ?ψ (x, y, t). These flows act as kinematic fast dynamos and are able to generate a mean magnetic field uniform and constant in the xy-plane but whose direction varies periodically along z with wavenumber k. Using Mean Field Electrodynamics, the generation mechanism can be understood in terms of a k-dependent α-effect, which depends on the magnetic Reynolds number, R m . We calculate this effect for different motions and investigate how its limit as k?→?0 depends on R m and on the properties of the flows such as their spatial structure or correlation time. This work generalises earlier studies based on 2D steady flows to motions with time dependence. 相似文献
12.
D. R. Fearn 《地球物理与天体物理流体动力学》2013,107(1):103-126
Abstract A linear analysis is used to study the stability of a rapidly rotating, electrically-conducting, self-gravitating fluid sphere of radius r 0, containing a uniform distribution of heat sources and under the influence of an azimuthal magnetic field whose strength is proportional to the distance from the rotation axis. The Lorentz force is of a magnitude comparable with that of the Coriolis force and so convective motions are fully three-dimensional, filling the entire sphere. We are primarily interested in the limit where the ratio q of the thermal diffusivity κ to the magnetic diffusivity η is much smaller than unity since this is possibly of the greatest geophysical relevance. Thermal convection sets in when the temperature gradient exceeds some critical value as measured by the modified Rayleigh number Rc. The critical temperature gradient is smallest (Rc reaches a minimum) when the magnetic field strength parameter Λ ? 1. [Rc and Λ are defined in (2.3).] The instability takes the form of a very slow wave with frequency of order κ/r 2 0 and its direction of propagation changes from eastward to westward as Λ increases through Λ c ? 4. When the fluid is sufficiently stably stratified and when Λ > Λm ? 22 a new mode of instability sets in. It is magnetically driven but requires some stratification before the energy stored in the magnetic field can be released. The instability takes the form of an eastward propagating wave with azimuthal wavenumber m = 1. 相似文献
13.
As a step towards a physically realistic model of a fast dynamo, we study numerically a kinematic dynamo driven by convection in a rapidly rotating cylindrical annulus. Convection maintains the quasi-geostrophic balance whilst developing more complicated time-dependence as the Rayleigh number is increased. We incorporate the effects of Ekman suction and investigate dynamo action resulting from a chaotic flow obtained in this manner. We examine the growth rate as a function of magnetic Prandtl number Pm, which is proportional to the magnetic Reynolds number. Even for the largest value of Pm considered, a clearly identifiable asymptotic behaviour is not established. Nevertheless the available evidence strongly suggests a fast dynamo process. 相似文献
14.
Numerous studies of magnetic fluctuations with a zero mean-field for small magnetic Prandtl numbers (Pr
m
1) show that magnetic fluctuations cannot be generated by turbulent fluid flow with the Kolmogorov energy spectrum. In addition, the generation of magnetic fluctuations with a zero mean-field for Pr
m
1 were not observed in numerical simulations. However, in astrophysical plasmas the magnetic Prandtl numbers are small and magnetic fluctuations are observed. Thus a mechanism of generation of magnetic fluctuations for Pr
m
1 still remains poorly understood. On the other hand, in astrophysical applications (e.g., solar and stellar convection zones, galaxies, accretion disks) the turbulent velocity field cannot be considered as a divergence-free.
The generation of magnetic fluctuations by turbulent flow of conducting fluid with a zero mean magnetic field for Pr
m
1 is studied by means of linear and nonlinear analysis. The turbulent fluid velocity field is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic with a power law energy spectrum ( k
–p
) and with a very short scale-dependent correlation time. It is found that magnetic fluctuations can be generated when the exponent p > 3/2. It is shown also that the growth rates of the higher moments of the magnetic field are larger than those of the lower moments, i.e., the spatial distribution of the magnetic field is intermittent. In addition, the effect of compressibility (i.e., u 0) of the low-Mach-number turbulent fluid flow
u
is studied. It is demonstrated that the threshold for the generation of magnetic fluctuations by turbulent fluid flow with u 0 is higher than that for incompressible fluid. This implies that the compressibility impairs the generation of magnetic fluctuations.
Nonlinear effects result in saturation of growth of the magnetic fluctuations. Asymptotic properties of the steady state solution for the second moment of the magnetic field in the case of the Hall nonlinearity for the low-Mach-number compressible flow are studied. 相似文献
15.
Abstract This paper analyzes the linear stability of a rapidly-rotating, stratified sheet pinch in a gravitational field, g, perpendicular to the sheet. The sheet pinch is a layer (O ? z ? d) of inviscid, Boussinesq fluid of electrical conductivity σ, magnetic permeability μ, and almost uniform density ρ o; z is height. The prevailing magnetic field. B o(z), is horizontal at each z level, but varies in direction with z. The angular velocity, Ω, is vertical and large (Ω ? VA/d, where VA = B0√(μρ0) is the Alfvén velocity). The Elsasser number, Λ = σB2 0/2Ωρ0, measures σ. A (modified) Rayleigh number, R = gβd2/ρ0V2 A, measures the buoyancy force, where β is the imposed density gradient, antiparallel to g. A Prandtl number, PK = μσK, measures the diffusivity, k, of density differences. 相似文献
16.
Joe M. Straus 《地球物理与天体物理流体动力学》2013,107(1):261-281
AbstractTwo upper bounding problems for thermal convection in a layer of fluid contained between perfectly conducting stress-free boundaries are treated numerically. Since the Euler equations resulting from this variational approach are simpler than the Navier-Stokes equations, they allow numerical calculations to be carried out economically to fairly large values of the Rayleigh number. The upper bounding problem formulated by Howard (1963), which yields a Nusselt number independent of Prandtl number, diverges from the correct behavior as the Rayleigh number increases. In hopes of coming closer to results of previous investigations of the Boussinesq equations of motion, a more restrictive upper bounding problem is formulated. For large Prandtl numbers the momentum equation is linearized and is used as an explicit side constraint on the variational problem, thereby forcing the solutions to more closely resemble the solutions of the Boussinesq equations. Numerical calculations at values of the Rayleigh number up to 1.5 × 105 indicate that the additional constraint decreases the upper bound on the Nusselt number; it appears that this upper bound differs by only a multiplicative factor from that calculated from solutions of the full equations of motion and may be a reasonable approximation for large Rayleigh numbers. 相似文献
17.
Peter A. Gilman 《地球物理与天体物理流体动力学》2013,107(1):93-135
Abstract Convection in a rotating spherical shell has wide application for understanding the dynamics of the atmospheres and interiors of many celestial bodies. In this paper we review linear results for convection in a shell of finite depth at substantial but not asymptotically large Taylor numbers, present nonlinear multimode calculations for similar conditions, and discuss the model and results in the context of the problem of solar convection and differential rotation. Detailed nonlinear calculations are presented for Taylor number T = 105, Prandtl number P = 1, and Rayleigh number R between 1 |MX 104 and 4 |MX 104 (which is between about 4 and 16 times critical) for a shell of depth 20% of the outer radius. Sixteen longitudinal wave numbers are usually included (all even wave numbers m between 0 and 30) the amplitudes of which are computed on a staggered grid in the meridian plane. The kinetic energy spectrum shows a peak in the wave number range m = 12–18 at R = 104, which straddles the critical wave number m = 14 predicted by linear theory. These are modes which peak near the equator. The spectrum shows a second strong peak at m = 0, which represents the differential rotation driven by the peak convective modes. As R is increased, the amplitude of low wave numbers increases relative to high wave numbers as convection fills in in high and middle latitudes, and as the longitudinal scale of equatorial convection grows. By R = 3 |MX 104, m = 8 is the peak convective mode. There is a clear minimum in the total kinetic energy at middle latitudes relative to low and high, well into the nonlinear regime, representing the continued dominance of equatorial and polar modes found in the linear case. The kinetic energy spectrum for m > 0 is maintained primarily by buoyancy work in each mode, but with substantial nonlinear transfer of kinetic energy from the peak modes to both lower and higher wave numbers. For R = 1 to 2 |MX 104, the differential rotation takes the form of an equatorial acceleration, with angular velocity generally decreasing with latitude away from the equator (as on the sun) and decreasing inwards. By R = 4 |MX 104, this equatorial profile has completely reversed, with angular velocity increasing with depth and latitude. Also, a polar vortex which has positive rotation relative to the reference frame (no evidence of which has been seen on the sun) builds up as soon as polar modes become important. Meridional circulation is quite weak relative to differential rotation at R = 104, but grows relative to it as R is increased. This circulation takes the farm of a single cell of large latitudinal extent in equatorial regions, with upward flow near the equator, together with a series of narrower cells in high latitudes. It is maintained primarily by axisymmetric buoyancy forces. The differential rotation is maintained at all R primarily by Reynolds stresses, rather than meridional circulation. Angular momentum transport toward the equator for R = 1–2 |MX 104 maintains the equatorial acceleration while radially inward transport maintains the opposite profile at R = 4 |MX 104. The total heat flux out the top of the convective shell always shows two peaks for the range of R studied, one at the equator and the other near the poles (no significant variation with latitude is seen on the sun), while heat flux in at the bottom shows only a polar peak at large R. The meridional circulation and convective cells transport heat toward the equator to maintain this difference. The helicity of the convection plus the differential rotation produced by it suggest the system may be capable of driving a field reversing dynamo, but the toroidal field may migrate with lime in each cycle toward the poles and equator, rather than just toward the equator as apparently occurs on the sun. We finally outline additions to the physics of the model to make it more realistic for solar application. 相似文献
18.
This work deals with the preliminary relationship between strain path and strain partitioning pattern in a sinistral transpressional zone,Lancangjiang shear zone,located to the southeast of Tibet.Various ductile rocks provide an opportunity to investigate quantitative finite strain(Rs),kinematic vorticity values(Wm),and proportions of simple and pure shear components.The mean kinematic vorticity values(Wm) were evaluated based on three methods,such as Rs-θ,prophyroclast hyperbolic distribution method(PHD),a... 相似文献
19.
Three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulations of single turbulent thermal plumes in the Boussinesq approximation are used to understand more deeply the interaction of a plume with itself and its environment. In order to do so, we varied the Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers from Ra?～?105 to Ra?～?108 and from Pr?～?0.025 to Pr?～?70. We found that thermal dissipation takes place mostly on the border of the plume. Moreover, the rate of energy dissipation per unit mass ε T has a critical point around Pr?～?0.7. The reason is that at Pr greater than ～0.7, buoyancy dominates inertia and thermal advection dominates wave formation whereas this trend is reversed at Pr less than ～0.7. We also found that for large enough Prandtl number (Pr?～?70), the velocity field is mostly poloidal although this result was known for Rayleigh–Bénard convection (see Schmalzl et al. [On the validity of two-dimensional numerical approaches to time-dependent thermal convection. Europhys. Lett. 2004, 67, 390--396]). On the other hand, at small Prandtl numbers, the plume has a large helicity at large scale and a non-negligible toroidal part. Finally, as observed recently in details in weakly compressible turbulent thermal plume at Pr?=?0.7 (see Plourde et al. [Direct numerical simulations of a rapidly expanding thermal plume: structure and entrainment interaction. J. Fluid Mech. 2008, 604, 99--123]), we also noticed a two-time cycle in which there is entrainment of some of the external fluid to the plume, this process being most pronounced at the base of the plume. We explain this as a consequence of calculated Richardson number being unity at Pr?=?0.7 when buoyancy balance inertia. 相似文献
20.
Linear α2Ω-dynamo waves are investigated in a thin turbulent, differentially rotating convective stellar shell. A simplified one-dimensional model is considered and an asymptotic solution constructed based on the small aspect ratio of the shell. In a previous paper Griffiths et al. (Griffiths, G.L., Bassom, A.P., Soward, A.M. and Kuzanyan, K.M., Nonlinear α2Ω-dynamo waves in stellar shells, Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dynam., 2001, 94, 85–133) considered the modulation of dynamo waves, linked to a latitudinal-dependent local α-effect and radial gradient of the zonal shear flow. These effects are measured at latitude θ by the magnetic Reynolds numbers R α f(θ) and R Ω g(θ). The modulated Parker wave, which propagates towards the equator, is localised at some mid-latitude θp under a Gaussian envelope. In this article, we include the influence of a latitudinal-dependent zonal flow possessing angular velocity Ω*(θ) and consider the possibility of non-axisymmetric dynamo waves with azimuthal wave number m. We find that the critical dynamo number D c?=?R α R Ω is minimised by axisymmetric modes in the αΩ-limit (Rα→0). On the other hand, when Rα?≠?0 there may exist a band of wave numbers 0?m?m ? for which the non-axisymmetric modes have a smaller D c than in the axisymmetric case. Here m ? is regarded as a continuous function of R α with the property m?→0 as R α→0 and the band is only non-empty when m??>1, which happens for sufficiently large R α. The preference for non-axisymmetric modes is possible because the wind-up of the non-axisymmetric structures can be compensated by phase mixing inherent to the α2Ω-dynamo. For parameter values resembling solar conditions, the Parker wave of maximum dynamo activity at latitude θp not only propagates equatorwards but also westwards relative to the local angular velocity Ω*(θ p ). Since the critical dynamo number D c?=?R α R Ω is O (1) for small R α, the condition m ??>?1 for non-axisymmetric mode preference imposes an upper limit on the size of |dΩ*/dθ|. 相似文献