Thermocapillary convection in a cuboid pool with a sidewall of different temperature sections

• Published in: International communications in heat and mass transfer Vol. 155; p. 107549
• Main Authors: Meng, Xinyuan, Chen, Enhui, Xu, Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Bifurcation; Nonuniform temperature; Numerical simulation; Thermocapillary convection; Bifurcation; Thermocapillary convection; Numerical simulation; Nonuniform temperature
• ISSN: 0735-1933; 1879-0178
• DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2024.107549

Thermocapillary convection in a liquid cuboid pool with a sidewall of different temperature sections is investigated using 3D numerical simulation. One half section of the sidewall is heated but the other cooled. Numerical simulation is performed for Marangoni number (Ma) from 100 to 4.0 × 106 with Prandtl number (Pr) of 28.6 and aspect ratios (Ah and Aw) of 0.43. A temperature field with a weak thermocapillary convection flow is dominated by conduction for small Ma. As Ma increases, the flow becomes stronger and reveals a complex transition route to a chaotic state with a series of bifurcations. It has been demonstrated that the symmetry of the temperature field breaks between Ma = 102 and 103. A Hopf bifurcation occurs between Ma = 8.0 × 105 and 9.0 × 105 in which the flow becomes periodic. As Ma increases further, a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations occurs between Ma = 2.78 × 106 and 2.95 × 106. Once Ma exceeds 3.0 × 106, the flow becomes chaotic. Typical thermocapillary convection flows in the pool are characterized with topological analyses, spectral analyses, attractors, Lyapunov exponents, and fractal dimensions. Furthermore, the heat and mass transfer in the cuboid pool have been investigated.