Endwall driven, low prandtl number convection in a shallow rectangular cavity

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents results from laboratory experiments on the oscillatory behavior of the flow of mercury enclosed in shallow, rectangular boxes with horizontal temperature gradients imposed. Emphasis has been placed on the effect that finite width of the chamber has on various observables. These observables include the critical Grashof number for the onset of oscillations, hysteretic effects, the spatial form of the instability, and its behavior at supercritical conditions. The first oscillatory instabilities to appear are in the form of standing, longitudinal waves (axis of the roll(s) perpendicular to the heated endwalls). For certain supercritical conditions, these instabilities generate subharmonic oscillations. As the temperature difference is increased beyond these regimes, the response becomes chaotic.