Onset of Surface-Tension-Driven Benard Convection

Harry L. Swinney (Center for Nonlinear Dynamics; J. B. Swift; Michael F. Schatz; Stephen J. Vanhook; University of Texas at Austin); William D. McCormick

arxiv: patt-sol/9507002 · v1 · submitted 1995-07-07 · patt-sol · nlin.PS

Onset of Surface-Tension-Driven Benard Convection

Michael F. Schatz , Stephen J. Vanhook , William D. McCormick , J. B. Swift , Harry L. Swinney (Center for Nonlinear Dynamics , University of Texas at Austin) This is my paper

classification patt-sol nlin.PS

keywords convectionexperimentsagreeattributedbelowbenardbifurcationboundaries

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Experiments with shadowgraph visualization reveal a subcritical transition to a hexagonal convection pattern in thin liquid layers that have a free upper surface and are heated from below. The measured critical Marangoni number (84) and observation of hysteresis (3%) agree with theory. In some experiments, imperfect bifurcation is observed and is attributed to deterministic forcing caused in part by the lateral boundaries in the experiment.

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Onset of Surface-Tension-Driven Benard Convection

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