INTERFACIAL ENERGY-BALANCE EQUATION FOR SURFACE-TENSION-DRIVEN BENARDCONVECTION

Existing theories for the surface-tension-driven Benard convection (Ma rangoni convection) have considered only thermocapillary effects throu gh the shear stress balance equation at the interface via the surface- tension-gradient-induced shear stresses. Thermocapillary induced surfa ce energy variation has been ignored altogether in these theories. A f ormulation taking into account this surface energy variation shows tha t it can have a non-negligible effect on the onset of Benard convectio n cells.