Thermocapillary flow and natural convection in a melt column with an unknown melt/solid interface

Abstract

AbstractA vertical melt column set up between an upper heating rod and a lower sample rod, i.e. the so‐called halfzone system, is a convenient experimental tool for studying convection in the melt in floating‐zone crystal growth. In order to help understand the convection observed in the melt column, a computer model has been developed to describe steady state, axisymmetrical thermocapillary flow and natural convection in the melt. The governing equations and boundary conditions are expressed in general non‐orthogonal curvilinear co‐ordinates in order to accurately treat the unknown melt/solid interface as well as all other physical boundaries in the system. The effects of key dimensionless variables on the following items are discussed: (1)convection and temperature distribution in the melt; (2) the shape of the melt/solid interface; (3) the height of the melt column. These dimensionless variables are the Grashof, Marangoni and Prandtl numbers.