The evolution and interaction of Marangoni-Bénard solitary waves

Abstract

Marangoni-Bénard convection is the process by which oscillatory waves are generated on an interface due to a change in surface tension. This process, which can be mass or temperature driven is described by a perturbed Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation. The evolution and interaction of solitary waves generated by Marangoni-Bénard convection is examined. The solitary wave with steady-state amplitude, which occurs when the excitation and friction terms of the perturbed KdV equation are in balance is found to second-order in the perturbation parameter. This solitary wave has a fixed amplitude, which depends on the coefficients of the perturbation terms in the governing equation. The evolution of a solitary wave of arbitrary amplitude to the steady-state amplitude is also found, to first-order in the perturbation parameter. In addition, by using a perturbation method based on inverse scattering, it is shown that the interaction of two solitary waves is not elastic with the change in wave amplitude determined. Numerical solutions of the perturbed KdV equation are presented and compared to the asymptotic solutions.