Results are reported of the Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment (STDCE) aboard the USML-1 Spacelab, which was launched on June 25, 1992. In the experiment, 10 cSt silicone oil was placed in an open 10-cm-dia circular container, which was 5 cm deep. The fluid was heated either by a cylinderical heater (1.11 cm diameter) located along the container centerline or by a CO2 laser beam to induce thermocapillary flow. Several thermistor probes were placed in the fluid to measure the temperature distribution. The temperature distribution along the liquid-free surface was measured by an infrared imager. Tests were conducted over a range of heating powers, laser-beam diameters, and free surface shapes. An extensive numerical modeling of the flow was conducted in conjunction with the experiments. Some results of the temperature measurements with flat free surfaces are presented in this paper and they are shown to agree well with the numerical predictions.
Issue Section:
Natural and Mixed Convection
1.
Carpenter
B. M.
Homsy
G. M.
1990
, “High Marangoni Number Convection in a Square Cavity: Part II
,” Physics of Fluids A
, Vol. 2
, pp. 137
–149
.2.
Chang, A., 1994, “Scaling Analysis of Thermocapillary Flows in Cylinderical Containers,” Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
3.
Fu, B., and Ostrach, S., 1983, “Numerical Simulation of Floating-Zone Thermocapillary Flows,” Proceedings, 4th European Symposium on Materials Sciences Under Microgravity ( ESA SP-191 ), pp. 239–245.
4.
Kamotani
Y.
Ostrach
S.
Vargas
M.
1984
, “Oscillatory Thermocapillary Convection in a Simulated Floating-Zone Configuration
,” Journal of Crystal Growth
, Vol. 66
, pp. 83
–90
.5.
Kamotani
Y.
Ostrach
S.
1987
, “Design of a Thermocapillary Flow Experiment in Reduced Gravity
,” Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer
, Vol. 1
, pp. 83
–89
.6.
Kamotani
Y.
Lee
J. H.
Ostrach
S.
1992
, “An Experimental Study of Oscillatory Thermocapillary Convection in Cylinderical Containers
,” Physics of Fluids A
, Vol. 4
, pp. 955
–962
.7.
Kamotani, Y., Ostrach, S., and Pline, A., 1994a, “Analysis of Velocity Data Taken in Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment in Microgravity,” accepted for publication in Physics of Fluids.
8.
Kamotani, Y., Ostrach, S., and Pline, A., 1994b, “Oscillatory Thermocapillary Flow Experiment (OTFE)” Proceedings, Joint Launch + One Year Science Review of USML-I and USMP-1 With the Microgravity Measurement Group, Ramachandran et al., eds., NASA Conference Publication. No. 3272, Vol. 2, pp. 701–715.
9.
Kuhlmann
H. C.
Rath
H. J.
1993
, “Hydrodynamic Instabilities in Cylinderical Thermocapillary Liquid Bridges
,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics
, Vol. 247
, pp. 247
–274
.10.
Lee, H. J., Ostrach, S., and Kamotani, Y., 1994, “A Study of Oscillatory Thermocapillary Convection in Circular Containers With CO2 Laser Heating,” Report EMAE/TR-94-213, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
11.
Neitzel
G. P.
Law
C. C.
Jankowski
D. F.
Mittlemann
H. D.
1991
, “Energy Stability of Thermocapillary Convection in a Model of the Float-Zone Crystal-Growth Process. II: Nonaxisymmetric Disturbances
,” Physics of Fluids A
, Vol. 3
, pp. 2841
–2846
.12.
Neitzel
G. P.
Chang
K. T.
Jankowski
D. F.
Mittlemann
H. D.
1993
, “Linear Stability Theory of Thermocapillary Convection in a Model of the Float-Zone Crystal Growth Process
,” Physics of Fluids A
, Vol. 5
, pp. 108
–114
.13.
Ostrach
S.
1982
, “Low-Gravity Fluid Flows
,” Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics
, Vol. 14
, pp. 313
–345
.14.
Ostrach, S., and Kamotani, Y., 1989, “Science Requirements Document for the Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment in Reduced Gravity,” Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
15.
Patankar, S. V., 1980, Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Hemisphere Pub., Washington, DC.
16.
Pline, A., 1988, “Surface Temperature Measurements for the Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment,” NASA TM 101353.
17.
Pline
A.
Jacobson
T. P.
Wanhainen
J. S.
Petrarca
D. A.
1990
, “Hardware Development for the Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment
,” Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets
, Vol. 27
, pp. 312
–317
.18.
Pline
A.
Butcher
R. L.
1990
, “Spacelab Qualified Infrared Imager for Microgravity Science Applications
,” Thermosense XII
, SPIE Vol. 1313
, pp. 250
–258
.19.
Pline, A., Jacobson, T. P., Kamotani, Y., and Ostrach, S., 1993, “Surface Tension Driven Convection Experiment,” AIAA Paper No. 93-4312.
20.
Preisser
F.
Schwabe
D.
Scharmann
A.
1983
, “Steady and Oscillatory Thermocapillary Convection in Liquid Columns With Free Cylinderical Surface
,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics
, Vol. 126
, pp. 545
–567
.21.
Product Manual for Silicone Fluids, 1983, Report S-9G, Silicone Products Division, General Electric Company, New York.
22.
Shen
Y.
Neitzel
G. P.
Jankowski
D. F.
Mittlemann
H. D.
1990
, “Energy Stability of Thermocapillary Convection in a Model of the Float-Zone Crystal-Growth Process
,” Journal of Fluid Mechanics
, Vol. 217
, pp. 639
–660
.23.
Velten
R.
Schwabe
D.
Scharmann
A.
1991
, “The Periodic Instability of Thermocapillary Convection in Cylindrical Liquid Bridges
,” Physics of Fluids A
, Vol. 3
, pp. 267
–279
.24.
Xu
J.-J.
Davis
S. H.
1984
, “Convective Thermocapillary Instabilities in Liquid Bridges
,” Physics of Fluids A
, Vol. 27
, pp. 1102
–1107
.25.
Zebib
A.
Homsy
G. M.
Meiburg
E.
1985
, “High Marangoni Number Convection in a Square Cavity
,” Physics of Fluids
, Vol. 28
, 3467
–3476
.
This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright © 1995
by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
You do not currently have access to this content.
