Finite amplitude thermal convection with spatially modulated boundary temperatures

Abstract

Finite amplitude thermal convection in a fluid layer between two horizontal walls with different fixed mean temperatures is considered when spatially modulated temperatures with amplitudes L 1 * and L u * are prescribed at the lower and upper walls, respectively. The nonlinear steady problem is solved by a perturbation technique, and the preferred mode of convection is determined by a stability analysis. In the case of a resonant wavelength excitation, regular or non-regular multi-modal pattern convection can be preferred for some ranges of L 1 * and L u *, provided the wave vectors for such patterns are contained in a certain subset of the wave vectors representing a linear combination of modulated upper and lower boundary temperatures. In the case of non-resonant wavelength excitation, a three (two) dimensional solution in the form of multi-modal (rolls) pattern convection can be preferred, even if the boundary modulations are one (two) or two (one) dimensional, provided the wavelengths of the modulations are not too small. Heat transported by convection can be enhanced by boundary modulations in some ranges of L 1 * and L u *.