Convection in a two-layer system due to the combined action of the Rayleigh and thermocapillary instability mechanisms

Abstract

In a two-layer system loss of stability may be monotonic or oscillatory in character. Increasing oscillatory perturbations have been detected in the case of both Rayleigh [1, 2] and thermocapillary convection [3–5]; however, for many systems the minimum of the neutral curve corresponds to monotonic perturbations. In [5] an example was given of a system for which oscillatory instability is most dangerous when the thermogravitational and thermocapillary instability mechanisms are simultaneously operative. In this paper the occurrence of convection in a two-layer system due to the combined action of the Rayleigh (volume) and thermocapillary (surface) instability mechanisms is systematically investigated. It is shown that when the Rayleigh mechanism operates primarily in the upper layer of fluid, in the presence of a thermocapillary effect oscillatory instability may be the more dangerous. If thermogravitational convection is excited in the lower layer of fluid, the instability will be monotonic.