A spectral method determination of the first critical Rayleigh number for a low-Prandtl number crystal melt in a cylindrical container

The onset of laminar Rayleigh-Bénard convection is investigated for a low-Prandtl number liquid metal in a cylindrical container. All surfaces are considered to be solid and no-slip. Two cases are considered for the thermal boundary conditions at the side wall: conducting and insulated surfaces. A Chebyshev Galerkin spectral model is used to reduce the governing Boussinesq system to a first-order system of ordinary differential equations. A local stability analysis using the linearized system determines the first critical Rayleigh number. The results are compared with experimental data and a numerical study.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Civil Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1993

Author dc:creator

• Dietz, Charles Miller

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Diplas, Panayiotis

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Kibler, David F.
• Loganathan, G. V.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-10062009-020314

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/45038