Y. Kamotani et al., EFFECTS OF HEATING MODE ON STEADY AXISYMMETRICAL THERMOCAPILLARY FLOWS IN MICROGRAVITY, Journal of heat transfer, 118(1), 1996, pp. 191-197
Steady thermocapillary flows in cylindrical containers with unit aspec
t ratio (radius = depth) are studied numerically and by scaling analys
is in order to investigate how the velocity and thermal fields are inf
luenced by the method of heating. Two heating modes are considered: he
ating by a uniform temperature cylindrical heater placed along the cen
terline (called the CT heating) and heating by an external radiative s
ource (the CF heating). The steady velocity and temperature fields are
computed numerically under various conditions for various Prandtl num
ber fluids. The effects of those two types of heating on the flows are
discussed. The results are also found to support the scaling laws der
ived herein for the characteristic velocity, length, and Nusselt numbe
r. The main thermocapillary driving force region is fixed by the heati
ng cone area in the CF heating but it generally varies with the pow in
the CT heating.