Influence of the thickness ratio of air layer to liquid layer on the onset of Benard-Marangoni convection

An experimental investigation of the onset of Benard-Marangoni convection has been performed in a liquid layer of rectangular configuration. The critical temperature difference was measured via the detections of both temperature field pattern (IR-imaging) on the free surface and fluid convection (PIV) in the liquid layer. The critical temperature difference or the critical Marangoni number was given. The experiments were performed for a fixed depth of air layer and a changeable depth of the liquid layer, and then the influence of the thickness ratio of the air layer to liquid layer on the Marangoni instability was studied.

Experimental Study on Benard-Marangoni Convection by PIV and TCL

An experimental investigation of Benard-Marangoni convection has been performed in double immiscible liquid layers of rectangular configuration. The two kinds of liquid are 10cst silicon oil and FC-70 respectively. The velocity fields in the vertical cross-section are obtained by PIV. Flow patterns and/or temperature distributions on the horizontal interface are displayed by using thermal color liquid crystal (TLC), and the velocity distributions on the interface were also obtained with the help of the serial particle image of TCL. The evolution processes of convection are observed in the differential thickness ratio of two liquid layers, and the convection styles are discussed.

Influence Of Free Surface Curvature Of A Liquid Layer On The Critical Marangoni Convection

The Pearson instability was suggested to discuss the onset of Marangoni convection in a liquid layer of large Prandtl number under an applied temperature difference perpendicular to the free surface in the microgravity environment. In this case, the temperature distribution on the curved free surface is nonuniform, and the thermocapillary convection is induced and coupled with the Marangoni convection. In the present paper the effect of volume ratio of the liquid layer on the critical Marangoni convection and the corresponding spatial variation of the convection structure in zero-gravity condition were numerically investigated by two-dimensional model. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental Study on Bénard-Marangoni Convection in Double Immiscible Liquid Layer

An experimental investigation of Bénard-Marangoni convection has been performed in double immiscible liquid layers of rectangular configuration on the ground. The two kinds of liquid are 10cst silicon oil and FC-70 respectively. The size of rectangular chamber is 100mm×40mm in horizontal cross-section. The evolution processes of convection are observed in the differential thickness ratio of two liquid layers. The critical temperature difference was measured via the detections of fluid convection by a particle image velocimetry (PIV) in the vertical cross-section of the liquid layer. The critical temperature difference or the critical Marangoni number was given. And the influence of the thickness ratio of two liquid layers on the convection instability was discussed. The evolution processes of patterns and temperature distributions on the interface are displayed by using thermal liquid crystal. The velocity distributions on the interface were also obtained. In comparison with the thermocapillary effect, the effect of buoyancy convection will relatively increase when the depth of the liquid layer increases. Because of the coupling of buoyancy and thermocapillary effect, the convection instability is much more complex than that in the microgravity environment. And the critical convection depends on the change of the thickness of liquid layers and also the change of thickness ratio of two liquid layers.

Influence Of Rayleigh Effect Combined With Marangoni Effect On The Onset Of Convection In A Liquid Layer Overlying A Porous Layer

The coupling mechanism of Rayleigh effect and Marangoni effect in a liquid-porous system is investigated using a linear stability analysis. The eigenvalue problem is solved by means of a Chebyshev tau method. Results indicate that there are three coupling modes between the Rayleigh effect and the Marangoni effect for different depth ratios. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oscillatory Instability of Rayleigh-Marangoni-Benard Convection in Two-Layer System

The convective instabilities in two or more superposed layers heated from below were studied extensively by many scientists due to several interfacial phenomena in nature and crystal growth application. Most works of them were performed mainly on the instability behaviors induced only by buoyancy force, especially on the oscillatory behavior at onset of convection (see Gershuni et. Al.(1982), Renardy et. Al. (1985,2000), Rasenat et. Al. (1989), and Colinet et. Al.(1994)) . But the unstable situations of multi-layer liquid convection will become more complicated and interesting while considering at the same time the buoyancy effect combined with thermocapillary effect. This is the case in the gravity reduced field or thin liquid layer where the thermocapillary effect is as important as buoyancy effect. The objective of this study was to investigate theoretically the interaction between Rayleigh-Bénard instability and pure Marangoni instability in a two-layer system, and more attention focus on the oscillatory instability both at the onset of convection and with increasing supercriticality. Oscillatory behavious of Rayleigh-Marangoni-Bénard convective instability (R-M-B instability) and flow patterns are presented in the two-layer system of Silicon Oil (10cSt) over Fluorinert (FC70) for a larger various range of two-layer depth ratios (Hr=Hupper/Hdown) from 0.2 to 5.0. Both linear instability analysis and 2D numerical simulation (A=L/H=10) show that the instability of the system depends strongly on the depth ratio of two-layer liquids. The oscillatory instability regime at the onset of R-M-B convection are found theoretically in different regions of layer thickness ratio for different two-layer depth H=12,6,4,3mm. The neutral stability curve of the system displaces to right while we consider the Marangoni effect at the interface in comparison with the Rayleigh-Bénard instability of the system without the Marangoni effect (Ma=0). The numerical results show different regimes of the developing of convection in the two-layer system for different thickness ratios and some differences at the onset of pure Marangoni convection and the onset of Rayleigh-Bénard convections in two-layer liquids. Both traveling wave and standing wave were detected in the oscillatory instability regime due to the competition between Rayleigh-Bénard instability and Marangoni effect. The mechanism of the standing wave formation in the system is presented numerically in this paper. The oscillating standing wave results in the competition of the intermediate Marangoni cell and the Rayleigh convective rolls. In the two-layer system of 47v2 silicone oil over water, a transition form the steady instability to the oscillatory instability of the Rayleigh-Marangoni-Bénard Convection was found numerically above the onset of convection for ε=0.9 and Hr=0.5. We propose that this oscillatory mechanism is possible to explain the experimental observation of Degen et. Al.(1998). Experimental work in comparison with our theoretical findings on the two-layer Rayleigh-Marangoni-Bénard convection with thinner depth for H<6mm will be carried out in the near future, and more attention will be paid to new oscillatory instability regimes possible in the influence of thermocapillary effects on the competition of two-layer liquids

Linear Stability Analysis of Convection in Two-Layer System with an Evaporating Vapor-Liquid Interface

Classical theories have successfully provided an explanation for convection in a liquid layer heated from below without evaporation. However, these theories are inadequate to account for the convective instabilities in an evaporating liquid layer, especially in the case when it is cooled from below. In the present paper, we study the onset of Marangoni convection in a liquid layer being overlain by a vapor layer.A new two-sided model is put forward instead of the one-sided model in previous studies. Marangoni-Bénard instabilities in evaporating liquid thin layers are investigated with a linear instability analysis. We define a new evaporation Biot number, which is different from that in previous studies and discuss the influences of reference evaporating velocity and evaporation Biot number on the vapor-liquid system. At the end, we explain why the instability occurs even when an evaporating liquid layer is cooled from below.

Space experiments of thermocapillary convection in two-liquid layers

In 1999, the space experiments on the Marangoni convection and thermocapillary convection in a system of two immiscible liquid layers in microgravity environment were conducted on board the Chinese scientific satellite SJ-5. A new system of two-layer liquids such as FC-70 liquid and paraffin was used successfully, with the paraffin melted in the space. Two different test-cells are subjected to a temperature gradient perpendicular or parallel to the interface to study the Marangoni convection and thermocapillary convection, respectively. The experimental data obtained in the first Chinese space experiment of fluid are presented. Two-dimensional numerical simulations of thermocapillary convections are carried out using SIMPLEC method A reasonable agreement between the experimental investigation and the numerical results is obtained.

Numerical investigation on a simulation model of floating zone convection

A simulation model with adiabatic condition at the upper rod and constant temperature at the lower rod is studied numerically in this paper. The temperature distribution in a simulation model is closer to the one in the half part of a floating full zone in comparison with the one in a usual floating half zone model with constant temperature at both rods, because the temperature distribution of a floating full zone is symmetric for the middle plane in a microgravity environment. The results of the simulation model show that the temperature profiles and the how patterns are different from those of the usual floating half zone model. Another type of half zone model, with a special non-uniform temperature distribution at the upper rod and constant temperature at the lower rod, has been suggested by recent experiments. The temperature boundary condition of the upper rod has a maximum value in the center and a lower value near the free surface. This modified simulation model is also simulated numerically in the present paper. Copyright (C)1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Hardware development and ground-based studies for drop shaft experiment on oscillatory convection in half floating-zone

Coordinated measurement of temperature, velocity and free surface oscillation were obtained by using the drop shaft facility for microgravity experiments of half floating zone convection. The ground-based studies gave transition from steady to oscillatory convection for multi-quantities measurement.

Free surface oscillation of thermocapillary convection in liquid bridge of half-floating-zone

Free surface deformations of thermocapillary convection in a small liquid bridge of half floating-zone are studied in the present paper. The relative displacement and phase difference of free surface oscillation are experimentally studied, and the features of free surface oscillation for various applied temperature differences are obtained. It is discovered that there is a sort of surface waves having the character of small perturbation, and having a wave mode of unusually large amplitude in one corner region of the liquid bridge.

两层液体Bénard-Marangoni对流的实验研究

采用粒子图像测速技术(PIV)对两层流体B(en)ard-Marangoni对流进行了实验研究.研究了各种不同厚度比下的临界对流模式,同时研究了在温差变大时向超临界对流模式转化过程.实验结果表明,界面张力对各种对流模式的形成和转变具有重要的作用.

Three-Dimensional Modeling of Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Laminar-Plasma Material Re-Melting Processing

Modeling study is performed concerning the heat transfer and fluid flow for a laminar argon plasma jet impinging normally upon a flat workpiece exposed to the ambient air. The diffusion of the air into the plasma jet is handled by using the combined-diffusion-coefficient approach. The heat flux density and jet shear stress distributions at the workpiece surface obtained from the plasma jet modeling are then used to study the re-melting process of a carbon steel workpiece. Besides the heat conduction within the workpiece, the effects of the plasma-jet inlet parameters (temperature and velocity), workpiece moving speed, Marangoni convection, natural convection etc. on the re-melting process are considered. The modeling results demonstrate that the shapes and sizes of the molten pool in the workpiece are influenced appreciably by the plasma-jet inlet parameters, workpiece moving speed and Marangoni convection. The jet shear stress manifests its effect at higher plasma-jet inlet velocities, while the natural convection effect can be ignored. The modeling results of the molten pool sizes agree reasonably with available experimental data.

The Hydrothermal Wave Of Large-Prandtl-Number Fluid In A Shallow Cavity

The hydrothermal wave was investigated numerically for large-Prandtl-number fluid (Pr = 105.6) in a shallow cavity with different heated sidewalls. The traveling wave appears and propagates in the direction opposite to the surface flow (upstream) in the case of zero gravity when the applied temperature difference grows and over the critical value. The phase relationships of the disturbed velocity, temperature and pressure demonstrate that the traveling wave is driven by the disturbed temperature, which is named hydrothermal wave. The hydrothermal wave is so weak that the oscillatory flow field and temperature distribution can hardly be observed in the liquid layer. The exciting mechanism of hydrothermal wave is analyzed and discussed in the present paper.

A Linear Stability Analysis Of Large-Prandtl-Number Thermocapillary Liquid Bridges

A linear stability analysis is applied to determine the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection in cylindrical liquid bridges of large Prandtl numbers (4 <= Pr <= 50). We focus on the relationships between the critical Reynolds number Re-c, the azimuthal wave number m, the aspect ratio F and the Prandtl number Pr. A detailed Re-c-Pr stability diagram is given for liquid bridges with various Gamma. In the region of Pr > 1, which has been less studied previously and where Re, has been usually believed to decrease with the increase of Pr, we found Re-c exhibits an early increase for liquid bridges with Gamma around one. From the computed surface temperature gradient, it is concluded that the boundary layers developed at both solid ends of liquid bridges strengthen the stability of basic axisymmetric thermocapillary convection at large Prandtl number, and that the stability property of the basic flow is determined by the "effective" part of liquid bridge. (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.