• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.456-466
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• 1994

Experimental investigation was made to study the mechanism of fluid and thermal oscillation phenomena of surface-tension driven flow in a cylindrical liquid column heated from above which is the low-gravity floating zone simulated on earth. Hexadecane, octadecane, silicon oil (10cs), FC-40 and water are used as the test liquids. The onset of the oscillatory thermocapillary convection appears when Marangoni number exceeds its criteria value and is found to be due to the coupling among velocity and temperature field with the free surface deformation. The frequency of temperature oscillation decreases with increasing aspect ratio for a given diameter and Marangoni number and the oscillation level increases with Marangoni number. The flow pattern in the liquid column appears either as symmetric or asymmetric 3-D flow due to the oscillatory flow in the azimuthal direction. The free surface deformation also occurs either as symmetric or asymmetric mode and its frequency is consistent with those of flow and temperature oscillations. The amplitude of surface deformation also increases with Marangoni number.