Use of baffles in cavity flow for the suppression of thermal oscillations under microgravity

Abstract

The quality of crystals grown from melt depends on the flow field in the melt. To simulate melt conditions, a finite element analysis is performed on flow in a heated cavity under the driving forces of natural convection, thermocapillary effects and rotation. In addition, the gravity field is modulated to simulate a microgravitational environment. The purpose for conducting this research is to determine whether the use of baffles can effectively reduce convection and suppress temperature oscillations. The results show that the baffle is able to suppress convection and reduce the amplitude of the temperature oscillations when placed perpendicular to the modulation direction. Under crystal and crucible rotation, the results with and without baffles are similar. In all cases, baffles did not induce temperature oscillations. From this study, it can be concluded that the effects of baffles on the flow behaviour depends greatly on the direction of gravity modulation and frequency.