Connective instability of a two-layer system with thermally insulated boundaries

The investigation of the convective stability of mechanical equilibrium of two horizontal layers of immiscible fluids has revealed the characteristics of such systems [1–3]. In particular, it has been found that, as distinct from a homogeneous horizontal layer, under certain conditions two-layer systems experience convective instability when uniformly heated from above and, moreover, oscillatory instability when heated from below. In [1–3] the problem was solved for a system with isothermal outer boundaries. In this paper the stability of equilibrium of two-layer systems is investigated for thermally insulated outer boundaries. Special attention is given to the study of the long wave instability mode.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 22–28, March–April, 1986.The authors wish to thank O. V. Kustova for assisting with the computations.     

Boussinesq approximation in the Rayleigh-Benard problem

Instability of mechanical equilibrium and initiation of plane steady-state convective flows in an infinite horizontal fluid layer heated from below (Rayleigh-Benard problem) are investigated. The convection model for an isothermal incompressible fluid is not assumed to have small thermal expansion (contrary to the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation). The influence of a supplementary thermal expansion parameter on the convection process is numerically investigated. The results are compared with the known results for the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation. It is shown that subcritical instability is possible if the thermal expansion parameter increases. The linearization and Lyapunov-Schmidt methods are applied.Rostov-on-Don. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 3–10, September–October, 1995.     

Secondary convective motions in a plane inclined layer

A linear theory of stability of a plane-parallel convective flow between infinite isothermal planes heated to different temperature was developed in [1–6]. At moderate Pr values the instability is monotonic and leads to the development of steady secondary motions. These motions for the case of a vertical layer have been investigated by the net [7, 8] and small-parameter [9] methods. In this paper steady secondary motions in an inclined layer are investigated. The small-parameter and net methods are used. The hard nature of excitation of secondary motions in a defined range of tilt angles is established. There are two types of secondary motions, whose regions of existence overlap — vortices at the boundary of countercurrent streams and convection rolls; the hard instability is due to the development of convection rolls. The analog of the Squire transformation obtained in [4] for infinitely small disturbances of a plane-parallel convective flow is extended to secondary motions of finite amplitude.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 3–9, May–June, 1977.I thank G. Z. Gershumi, E. M. Zhukhovitskii, and E. L. Tarunin for interest in the work and valuable discussion.     

Effect of a permeable partition on convective instability in a rectangular cavity

The equilibrium stability of a fluid, heated from below, in a rectangular cavity with a vertical permeable partition is investigated. The small perturbation problem is solved by the Galerkin-Kantorovich method. The relations obtained for the dependence of the critical Rayleigh numbers on the partition parameters and the cavity dimensions make it possible to identify regions in which either even or odd perturbations, sensitive to only the normal or only the tangential resistance of the partition, respectively, are responsible for equilibrium crisis. The effect of a permeable partition on the convective instability of a horizontal layer of fluid under various heating conditions was considered in [1–3], where a significant dependence of the critical Rayleigh numbers on the properties of the partition was established.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 6–10, May–June, 1989.     

Convective stability of a weakly conducting liquid in an electric field

In an inhomogeneously heated weakly conductive liquid (electrical conductivity 10^–12–1 cm^–1) located in a constant electric field a volume charge is induced because of thermal inhomogeneity of electrical conductivity and dielectric permittivity. The ponderomotive forces which develop set the liquid into intense motion [1–6]. However, under certain conditions equilibrium proves possible, and in that case the question of its stability may be considered. A theoretical analysis of liquid equilibrium stability in a planar horizontal condenser was performed in [2, 4]. Critical problem parameters were found for the case where Archimedean forces are absent [2]. Charge perturbation relaxation was considered instantaneous. It was shown that instability is of an oscillatory character. In [4] only heating from above was considered. Basic results were obtained in the limiting case of disappearingly small thermal diffusivity in the liquid (infinitely high Prandtl numbers). In the present study a more general formulation will be used to examine convective stability of equilibrium of a vertical liquid layer heated from above or below and located in an electric field. For the case of a layer with free thermally insulated boundaries, an exact solution is obtained. Values of critical Rayleigh number and neutral oscillation frequency for heating from above and below are found Neutral curves are constructed. It is demonstrated that with heating from below instability of both the oscillatory and monotonic types is possible, while with heating from above the instability has an oscillatory character. Values are found for the dimensionless field parameter at which the form of instability changes for heating from below and at which instability becomes possible for heating from above.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 16–23, September–October, 1976.In conclusion, the author thanks E. M. Zhukhovitskii for this interest in the study and valuable advice.     

Stability of stationary convective flow of a mixture in a vertical porous layer

In contrast to the corresponding viscous flow, the convective flow of a homogeneous liquid in a planar vertical layer whose boundaries are maintained at different temperatures is stable [1]. When a porous layer is saturated with a binary mixture, in the presence of potentially stable stratification one must expect an instability of thermal-concentration nature to be manifested. This instability mechanism is associated with the difference between the temperature and concentration relaxation times, which leads to a buoyancy force when an element of the fluid is displaced horizontally. In viscous binary mixtures, the thermal-concentration instability is the origin of the formation of layered flows, which have been studied in detail in recent years [2–4]. The convective instability of the equilibrium of a binary mixture in a porous medium was considered earlier by the present authors in [5]. In the present paper, the stability of stationary convective flow of a binary mixture in a planar vertical porous layer is studied. It is shown that in the presence of sufficient longitudinal stratification the flow becomes unstable against thermal-concentration perturbations; the stability boundary is determined as a function of the parameters of the problem.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 150–157, January–February, 1980.     

The Onset of Double-Diffusive Convection in a Superposed Fluid and Porous Layer Under High-Frequency and Small-Amplitude Vibrations

We numerically simulate the initiation of an average convective flow in a system composed of a horizontal binary fluid layer overlying a homogeneous porous layer saturated with the same fluid under gravitational field and vibration. In the layers, fixed equilibrium temperature and concentration gradients are set. The layers execute high-frequency oscillations in the vertical direction. The vibration period is small compared with characteristic timescales of the problem. The averaging method is applied to obtain vibrational convection equations. Using for computation the shooting method, a numerical investigation is carried out for an aqueous ammonium chloride solution and packed glass spheres saturated with the solution. The instability threshold is determined under two heating conditions—on heating from below and from above. When the solution is heated from below, the instability character changes abruptly with increasing solutal Rayleigh number, i.e., there is a jump-wise transition from the most dangerous shortwave perturbations localized in the fluid layer to the long-wave perturbations covering both layers. The perturbation wavelength increases by almost 10 times. Vibrations significantly stabilize the fluid equilibrium state and lead to an increase in the wavelength of its perturbations. When the fluid with the stabilizing concentration gradient is heated from below, convection can occur not only in a monotonous manner but also in an oscillatory manner. The frequency of critical oscillatory perturbations decreases by 10 times, when the long-wave instability replaces the shortwave instability. When the fluid is heated from above, only stationary convection is excited over the entire range of the examined parameters. A lower monotonic instability level is associated with the development of perturbations with longer wavelength even at a relatively large fluid layer thickness. Vibrations speed up the stationary convection onset and lead to a decrease in the wavelength of most dangerous perturbations of the motionless equilibrium state. In this case, high enough amplitudes of vibration are needed for a remarkable change in the stability threshold. The results of numerical simulation show good agreement with the data of earlier works in the limiting case of zero fluid layer thickness.     

Thermocapillary instability of the equilibrium of a flat layer containing internal heat sources

In the absence of body forces, a factor which has a strong influence on the equilibrium stability of a nonuniformly heated liquid is the dependence of the coefficient of surface tension on the temperature and the thermocapillary effect generated by it. If the equilibrium temperature gradient is sufficiently great, then the presence of the thermocapillary forces on the free surface can lead to the occurrence of convective motion. The monotonie instability of the equilibrium of a flat layer was investigated in [1–3]. Analysis of nonmonotonic disturbances [4] showed that in the case of an undeformable free surface there is no oscillatory instability. In [5] it was found that oscillatory instability is possible if there is a nonlinear dependence of the coefficient of surface tension on the temperature. The present paper is devoted to numerical investigation of the equilibrium stability of a flat layer with respect to arbitrary disturbances. It is shown that for a deformable free boundary there appears an additional neutral curve, which corresponds to monotonie capillary instability. In addition, when the capillary convection mechanism is taken into account, there appears an oscillatory instability, which becomes the most dangerous in the region of small Prandtl and wave numbers.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 27–31, March–April, 1991.I thank V. K. Andreev for a helpful discussion of the work.     

Oscillatory thermocapillary instability of a liquid layer in the presence of a surfactant

The effect of capillarity and a surfactant on the stability of a liquid layer in the presence of a vertical temperature gradient is investigated. It is found that the surfactant leads to the appearance of both monotonic and oscillatory instability, the presence of a surface concentration destabilizing the equilibrium in the case of heating from below. When the free surface is heated, the surfactant stabilizes the capillary instability.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.1, pp. 6–10, January–February, 1993.     

Effect of thermal radiation exchange between boundaries on convection in a gas heated from below

Natural convection problems offer many examples of branching of the solutions [1]. Usually, such branching (from the standpoint of catastrophe theory) can be described by a Whitney fold or cusp. A characteristic feature of nontrivial branching is the presence of some small but finite disturbance of the convective equilibrium conditions. In this study the perturbation disturbing the convective equilibrium of a fluid heated from below is Stefan-law thermal radiation exchange between the boundaries of the enclosure. Natural convection with lateral heating and allowance for radiative heat transfer was previously investigated in [2].Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.5, pp. 47–51, September–October, 1992.     

The convective instability of Maxwell fluid-saturated porous layer using a thermal non-equilibrium model

A linear stability analysis is carried out to study viscoelastic fluid convection in a horizontal porous layer heated from below and cooled from above when the solid and fluid phases are not in a local thermal equilibrium. The modified Darcy–Brinkman–Maxwell model is used for the momentum equation and two-field model is used for the energy equation each representing the solid and fluid phases separately. The conditions for the onset of stationary and oscillatory convection are obtained analytically. Linear stability analysis suggests that, there is a competition between the processes of viscoelasticity and thermal diffusion that causes the first convective instability to be oscillatory rather than stationary. Elasticity is found to destabilize the system. Besides, the effects of Darcy number, thermal non-equilibrium and the Darcy–Prandtl number on the stability of the system are analyzed in detail.     

Secondary vibrational convective motions in a flat vertical layer of liquid

Investigations of the stability of steady-state plane-parallel convective motion between vertical planes heated to different temperatures [1–5] have shown that this motion, depending on the value of the Prandtl number P, exhibits instability of two types. With small and moderate Prandtl numbers, the instability is of a hydrodynamic nature. It is brought about by monotonic perturbations which, in the supercritical region, develop into a periodic, with respect to the vertical, system of steady-state vortices at the interface between the opposing convective flows. Articles [6, 7] are devoted to the numerical investigation of nonlinear secondary steady-state flows. If P>11.4, there appears a new mode of instability, i.e., running thermal waves increasing in the flow; with P>12, this mode becomes more dangerous [4]. This instability is connected with the development of vibrational perturbations, and it can be considered that in the supercritical region the perturbations lead to the establishment of steady-state vibrations. Linear theory has made it possible to determine the boundaries of the regions of stability. In the present article a numerical investigation is made of nonlinear supercritical conditions developing as a result of a loss of stability of the steady-state flow with respect to vibrational perturbations.     

Thermocapillary instability of a plane layer with a vertical temperature gradient

The oscillating disturbances in a plane layer with a temperature gradient are analyzed. It is shown that for heating from below taking the deformability of the free surface into account leads to the appearance of short-wave oscillatory instability, which becomes the most dangerous mode. Moreover, the interaction of the capillary and thermocapillary instability mechanisms results in the appearance of oscillating disturbances of a new type, which lead to equilibrium crisis at high Marangoni numbers. It is established that when the free boundary is heated, the onset of convection is possible only with respect to oscillatory disturbances.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.3, pp. 19–23, May–June, 1992.     

Numerical study of convection of a liquid heated from below

The equilibrium of a liquid heated from below is stable only for small values of the vertical temperature gradient. With increase of the temperature gradient a critical equilibrium situation occurs, as a result of which convection develops. If the liquid fills a closed cavity, then there is a discrete sequence of critical temperature gradients (Rayleigh numbers) for which the equilibrium loses stability with respect to small characteristic disturbances. This sequence of critical gradients and motions may be found from the solution of the linear problem of equilibrium stability relative to small disturbances. If the temperature gradient exceeds the lower critical value, then (for steady-state heating conditions) there is established in the liquid a steady convective motion of a definite amplitude which depends on the magnitude of the temperature gradient. Naturally, the amplitude of the steady convective motion cannot be determined from linear stability theory; to find this amplitude we must solve the problem of convection with heating from below in the nonlinear formulation. A nonlinear study of the steady motion of a liquid in a closed cavity with heating from below was made in [1]. In that study it was shown that for Rayleigh numbers R which are less than the lower critical value R_c steady-state motions of the liquid are not possible. With R>R_c a steady convection arises, whose amplitude near the threshold is small and proportional to (R–R_c)^1/2 (the so-called soft instability)-this is in complete agreement with the results of the phenom-enological theory of Landau [2, 3].Primarily, various versions of the method of expansion in powers of the amplitude [4–8] have been used, and, consequently, the results obtained in those studies are valid only for values of R which are close to R_c, i. e., near the convection threshold.It is apparent that the study of developed convective motion far from the threshold can be carried out only numerically, with the use of digital computers. In [9, 10] the numerical methods have been successfully used for the study of developed convection in an infinite plane horizontal liquid layer.The present paper undertakes the numerical study of plane convective motions of a liquid in a closed cavity of square section. The complete nonlinear system of convection equations is solved by the method of finite differences on a digital computer for various values of the Rayleigh number, the maximal value exceeding by a factor of 40 the minimal critical value R_c. The numerical solution permits following the development of the steady motion which arises with R>R_c in the course of increase of the Rayleigh number and permits study of the oscillatory motions which occur at some value of the parameter R. The heat transfer through the cavity is studied. The corresponding linear problem on equilibrium stability is solved approximately by the Galerkin method.     

Thermoconvective instability of longitudinal flow in a vertical layer

An experimental study has been made of convection in a vertical slit cavity heated from below and with longitudinal horizontal forced flow. It was shown that the convective stability of such flow increases appreciably when the velocity of the forced flow is raised. In the case of slow pumping, an increase in the pressure difference leads to superposition on the rectilinear flow of first monotonic convection and then auto-oscillatory convection. At high flow velocities, the instability is immediately of an oscillatory nature. A diagram of the flow regimes is constructed, and the evolution of the supercritical structures described.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhikosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 28–33, March–April, 1984.     

Thermocapillary and thermogravitational convection in a two-layer system with curved interface

In an earlier study [1], the present authors used the complete nonlinear hydrodynamic equations to investigate thermocapillary convection in a two-layer system. Oscillatory instability of the equilibrium was established for some ratios of the parameters. In the present paper, a study is made of the influence on the thermocapillary convective motions of two different factors — curvature of the interface and gravity. It is established that curvature of the interface can lead to significant changes in the flow structure and hysteresis transitions between convection regimes. In the case of the joint influence of the thermogravitational and thermocapillary instability mechanisms, many different flow regimes are found: steady motions with different directions of rotation of the vortices and periodic and nonperiodic oscillatory motions with different spatial structures.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 175–179, May–June, 1984.We thank E. M. Zhukovitskii for discussing the results.     

Convective stability of a medium containing a heavy solid additive

Two problems of convective stability in a medium containing settling heavy solid particles are discussed. A study is made of the stability of steady convective flow of a medium containing an additive between vertical plates heated to different temperatures and also of the stability of a flat layer of a medium containing an additive which is heated from below. It is shown that the presence of settling solid particles has a significant stabilizing effect on convective stability.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 3, pp. 105–115, May–June, 1976.The author thanks E. M. Zhukhovitskii for directing the work, V. E. Nakoryakov and participants in the seminars directed by him, and also A. G. Kirdyashkin for providing valuable discussions of the results.     

The effect of vertical vibrations on the onset of convection in a planar rotating layer

The effect of vertical vibrations on the convection in a rotating planar fluid layer heated from below was studied. In this case a modulation parameter, the acceleration due to gravity, appears in the problem. The modulation of the parameter may have a significant effect on the onset of convective instability. Parameter modulation in nonrotating layers has been investigated in earlier work [1–3]. The presence of rotation significantly increases the complexity of the mathematical problem, introducing an additional dependence of the solution on the Taylor number Ta and the Prandtl number Pr. Furthermore, an oscillatory convection regime can occur at the stability limit in rotating fluids with Pr < 1. Parameter modulation in the rotating fluid may not only lead to a change in the stability limit and critical wavelength but also to a change in the eigenfrequency of the oscillatory convection. Rauscher and Kelly [4] examined the effect of parameter modulation on the convective stability of a rotating fluid only for the particular case of a sinusoidal variation in the temperature gradient with a small amplitude for Pr = 1, i.e., the effect of modulation was studied on only a steady convection regime.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 12–22, July–August, 1984.     

Convective instability of a system of horizontal layers of immiscible liquids with a deformable interface

The convective stability of equilibrium is considered for a system of two immiscible fluids which differ little in density. A generalized Boussinesq approximation is developed, making it possible to take the interface deformations properly into account. The stability of the equilibrium state of two fluids in a horizontal layer with a vertical temperature gradient is investigated. Several instability mechanisms are identified: long-wave and cellular monotonic disturbances and oscillatory disturbances. Increasing the deformability is shown to cause switching between instability mechanisms.Perm. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 32–39, March–April, 1996.     

Numerical simulation of instabilities and secondary regimes in spherical couette flow

In all previous numerical investigations of spherical Couette flow only axisymmetric regimes were considered. At the same time, in experiments [1–4] it was found that when both spheres rotate and the layer is thin centrifugal instability of the main flow leads to the appearance of nonaxisymmetric secondary flows of the azimuthal traveling wave type. The results of an initial numerical investigation of these flows are presented below. Solving the linear problem of the stability of the main flow and simulating the secondary flows on the basis of the complete nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations has made it possible to supplement and explain many of the results obtained experimentally. The type of bifurcation and the structure of the disturbances whose growth leads to the appearance of three-dimensional nonstationary flows are determined, and the transitions between different secondary regimes in the region of weak supercriticality are described.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 3–15, January–February, 1995.