Weakly nonlinear oscillatory convection in a rotating fluid

Abstract

The problem of weakly nonlinear two- and three-dimensional oscillatory convection in the form of standing waves is studied for a horizontal layer of fluid heated from below and rotating about a vertical axis. The solutions to the nonlinear problem are determined by a perturbation technique and the stability of all the base flow solutions is investigated with respect to both standing wave and travelling wave disturbances. The results of the stability and the nonlinear analyses for various values of the rotation parameter τ and the Prandtl number P (0 ≼ P < 0.677) indicate that there is no subcritical instability and that all the base flow solutions are unstable. Disturbances with highest growth rates are found to be some particular disturbances superimposed on two-dimensional base flow. Particular standing wave disturbances parallel to two-dimensional base flow are the most unstable ones either for sufficiently small P or for intermediate values of P with τ below some critical value τ *. Travelling wave disturbances inclined at an angle of about 45° to the wave vector of two-dimensional base flow are the most unstable disturbances either for P sufficiently close to its upper limit or for intermediate values of P with τ ≽ τ *. The dependence on P and τ of the nonlinear effect on the frequency and of the heat flux are also discussed.