EFFECT OF INCLINED TEMPERATURE-GRADIENT ON THERMAL-INSTABILITY IN AN ANISOTROPIC POROUS-MEDIUM

Effect of anisotropy on thermal instability in a fluid saturated porou s medium subjected to an inclined temperature gradient of finite magni tude is analysed using Galerkin technique. Results are compared with t hose of isotropic and horizontally isotropic cases. It is observed tha t anisotropic medium is the most stable while either isotropic situati on or the horizontally isotropic situation is the most unstable one de pending on the horizontal Rayleigh number (R(H)), anisotropy parameter s k1 (= k(y)/k(x)), and chi2 (= chi(y)/chi(z)).