Effects of Natural Convection on the Characteristics of a Long Laminar Argon Plasma Jet Issuing Horizontally into Ambient Air

Three-dimensional modeling results show that the appearance of the long laminar plasma jet is less influenced by natural convection even as it is issuing into ambient air horizontally. However, plasma parameter distributions may deviate from axi-symmetry

Magnetic field design for floating zone crystal growth

The magnetic fields produced by electrical coils are designed for P-doped Si crystal growth in a floating full zone in microgravity environment. The fields are designed specially to reduce the how near the free surface and then in the melt zone by adjusting the coil positions near the melt zone. The effects of the designed magnetic fields on reducing the Row velocity and the non-uniformity of the concentration distribution in the melt zone are better than those of the case of a uniform longitudinal magnetic field, obtained by numerical simulation. It is expected to improve the radial macro-segregation and reduce the convection in the crystal growth at the same time by using the designed magnetic field.

Oscillatory instability of Rayleigh-Marangoni-Bénard convection in two-layer liquid systems

The oscillatory behaviour of the Rayleigh-Marangoni-Bénard convective instability (R-M-B instability) regarding two combinations of two-layer fluid systems has been investigated theoretically and numerically. For the two-layer system of Silicone oil (10cSt) over Fluorinert (FC70), both linear instability analysis and 2D numerical simulation show that the instability of the system depends strongly on the depth ratio Hr = H1/H2 of the two-layer liquid. The oscillatory regime at the onset of R-M-B convection enlarges with reducing Γ = Ra/Ma values. In the two-layer system of Silicone oil (2cSt) over water, it loses its stability and onsets to steady convection at first, then the steady convection bifurcates to oscillatory convection with increasing Rayleigh number Ra. This behaviour was found through numerical simulation above the onset of steady convection in the case of r = 2.9, ε=(Ra-Ruc)/Rac = 1.0, and Hr = 0.5. Our findings are different from the previous study of the Rayleigh-Benard instability and show the strong effects of the thermocapillary force at the interface on the time-dependent oscillations at or after the onset of convection. We propose a secondary oscillatory instability mechanism to explain the experimental observation of Degen et al. [Phys. Rev. E, 57 (1998), 6647-6659].

Transition to Chaos in the Floating Half Zone Convection

The transition process from steady convection to chaos is experimentally studied in thermocapillary convections of floating half zone. The onset of temperature oscillations in the liquid bridge of floating half zone and further transitions of the temporal convective behaviour are detected by measuring the temperature in the liquid bridge. The fast Fourier transform reveals the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the flow transition. The experimental results indicate the existence of a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations that culminate in chaos. The measured Feigenbaum numbers are delta(2) = 4.69 and delta(4) = 4.6, which are comparable with the theoretical asymptotic value delta = 4.669.

Two bifurcation transitions of the floating half zone convection in a fat liquid bridge of larger Pr

The transient process of the thermocapillary convection was obtained for the large Pu floating half zone by using the method of three-dimensional and unsteady numerical simulation. The convection transits directly from steady and axisymmetric state to oscillatory flow for slender liquid bridge, and transits first from steady and axisymmetric convection to the steady and non-axisymmetric convection, then, secondly to the oscillatory convection for the fatter liquid bridge. This result implies that the volume of liquid bridge is not only a sensitive critical parameter for the onset of oscillation, but also relates to the new mechanism for the onset of instability in the floating half zone convection even in case of large Prandtl number fluid.

A new model of thermocapillary convection in floating half zone

A new model of thermocapillary convection in floating half zone was suggested in the present paper. The liquid bridge floats between two co-axis rods, the lower rod consists of metal with constant temperature and the upper rod consists of thermal insulating materials, where the normal gradient of temperature is nearly zero. In this case, the new model is relatively closer to simulate a half part of floating full zone in microgravity environment in comparison with the usual model of floating half zone. Basic features of the new model were studied by both numerical simulation and experiments, and the comparisons with the usual model were also discussed.

The Optical Methods on Measuring Surface Deformation and Surface Wave in The Thermal Capillary Convection

An optical diagnostic system consisting of the Michelson interferometer with the image processor has been developed for the study of the kinetics of the thermal capillary convection. The capillary convection, surface deformation, surface wave and the velocity field in a rectangular cavity with different temperature's sidewalls have been investigated by optical interference method and PIV technique. In order to calculate the surface deformation from the interference fringe, Fourier transformation is used to grating analysis. The quantitative results of the surface deformation and surface wave have been calculated from the interference fringe pattern.

The convection during NaClO3 crystal growth observed by the phase shift interferometer

An optical diagnostic system consisting of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer with the phase shift device and an image processor has been developed for the study of the kinetics of the crystal growing process. The dissolution and crystallization process of NaClO3 crystal has been investigated. The concentration distributions around a growing and dissolving crystal have been obtained by using phase-shift of four-steps theory for the interpretation of the interferograms. The convection (a plume flow) has been visualized and analyzed in the process of the crystal growth. The experiment demonstrates that the buoyancy convection dominates the growth rate of the crystal growing face on the ground-based experiment.

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.

Oscillatory Instabilities of Two-Layer Rayleigh-Marangoni-Benard Convection

The Rayleigh–Marangoni–Bénard convective instability (R–M–B instability) in the two-layer systems such as Silicone oil (10cSt)/Fluorinert (FC70) and Silicone oil (2cSt)/water liquids are studied. Both linear instability analysis and nonlinear instability analysis (2D numerical simulation) were performed to study the influence of thermocapillary force on the convective instability of the two-layer system. The results show the strong effects of thermocapillary force at the interface on the time-dependent oscillations at the onset of instability convection. The secondary instability phenomenon found in the real two-layer system of Silicone oil over water could explain the difference in the comparison of the Degen’s experimental observation with the previous linear stability analysis results of Renardy et al.

Instability from steady and axisymmetric to steady and asymmetric floating half zone convection in a fat liquid bridge of larger Prandtl number

The linear instability analysis of the present paper shows that the thermocapillary convection in a half floating zone of larger Prandtl number has a steady instability mode w(i) = 0 and m = 1 for a fat liquid bridge V = 1.2 with small geometrical aspect ratio A = 0.6. This conclusion is different from the usual idea of hydrothermal instability, and implies that the instability of the system may excite a steady and axial asymmetric state before the onset of oscillation in the ease of large Prandtl number.

Influence of Forced Convection on Columnar Microstructure During Directional Solidification of Al-Ni Alloys

This paper presents a summary of cellular and dendritic morphologies resulting from the upward directional solidification of Al - Ni alloys in a cylindrical crucible. We analysed the coupling of solid-liquid interface morphology with natural and forced convection. The influence of natural convection was first analyzed as a function of growth parameters (solute concentration, growth rate and thermal gradient). In a second step, the influence of axial vibrations on solidification microstructure was investigated by varying vibration parameters (amplitude and frequency). Experimental results were compared to preliminary numerical simulations and a good agreement is found for natural convection. In this study, the critical role of the mushy zone in the interaction between fluid flow and solidification microstructure is pointed out.

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.

Two Bifurcation Transition Processes in Floating Half Zone Convection of Larger Prandtl Number Fluid

Processes of the onset oscillation in the thermocapillaxy convection under the Earth's gravity are investigated by the numerical simulation and experiments in a floating half zone of large Prandtl number with different volume ratio. Both computational and experimental results show that the steady and axisymmetric convection turns to the oscillatory convection of m=1 for the slender liquid bridge, and to the oscillatory convection before a steady and 3D asymmetric state for the case of a fat liquid bridge. It implies that, there are two critical Marangoni numbers related, respectively, to these two bifurcation transitions for the fat liquid bridge. The computational results agree with the results of ground-based experiments.

Influence of liquid bridge volume on instability of floating half zone convection

Thermocapillary instabilities on floating half zone convection in microgravity environment were investigated by linear instability analysis method. The critical Marangoni numbers were obtained and compared with the experimental ones. The influences of the liquid bridge volume and the aspect ratio on the critical Marangoni number were analyzed. It is found that the liquid bridge volume and the aspect ratio have great influence on the critical Marangoni number. There was a gap region where the oscillatory convection will not be observed in present analyses and in experiments in the curve of the critical Marangoni number vs the liquid bridge volume for the case of large Prandtl number and small aspect ratio.