RAYLEIGH-BENARD-MARANGONI INSTABILITY - NEW EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

New experimental results are reported on the convective instability driven by surface tension gradients and buoyancy forces in a horizontal liquid layer heated from below and open to the ambient air. The role played by both the Marangoni and the Rayleigh dimensionless parameters is studied for various values given to the liquid thickness of the layer. Circular and rectangular geometries as well as various thermally different bottom plates have been used and their respective influence upon the convective pattern of the layer is shown. © Copyright by Walter de Gruyter & Co.