Lagrangian dynamics of turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection

This thesis focuses on laboratory experiments of turbulent Rayleigh Benard convection. Emphasis is placed on describing the Lagrangian dynamics of thermally-strati ed flows at Rayleigh numbers Ra = 2.8*10^9 and 1.1*10^10 for aspect ratios of 1.2, and 2. For this purpose, three-dimensional particle tracking velocimetry (3D-PTV) was used to characterize the three-dimensional Lagrangian paths of tracer particles in RB. The work also provides a general methodology for data pre-processing along with flow data post-processing. Lagrangian statistics including velocity and acceleration possibility density functions as well as pair dispersion are explored in detail. Inspection of the dynamics of buoyant particles, namely bubbles, are also discussed