Numerical Simulation of Thermocapillary Convection in Detached Solidification under Microgravity

摘要

In order to investigate the fundamental characteristics of thermocapillary convection in the detached solidification under microgravity, the finite-difference method was adopted to perform the numerical simulations. The results show that the flow of molten liquid is steady with the low Marangoni number and it only exists in the vicinity of the free surface. Moreover, with the Marangoni number increasing, the flow is expanded toward the inner part of molten liquid gradually, and at the same time the flow velocity on the free surface increases. However, the flow is unstable when the Marangoni number exceeds the critical Marangoni number.