Abstract:

Energy transfer which is carried by the both circulation and turbulent motions is discussed and analyzed in this paper. The formula of the energy transfer has been derived from the hydrodynamic equations. It is found that the velocity of circulation has a high value ～9×10³cm／s at the bottom of the convective envelope while the turbulence velocity can attain ～2.4×10⁵cm／s at the outer convective envelope. Therefore, circulation and turbulence are two important physical factors for contact binaries. At t=1.4548×10⁹a, the energy transfer by the circulation reaches ΔLcirc=0.14L⊙, while at t=1.4548×109a, the energy transfer by the turbulent motion is ΔLturb=0.72L⊙.

Key words: contact binary; hydrodynamics; energy transfer