Influence of buoyancy forces on Marangoni flow instabilities in liquid bridges

The influence of buoyancy forces on oscillatory Marangoni flow in liquid bridges of different aspect ratio is investigated by three‐dimensional, time‐dependent numerical solutions and by laboratory experiments using a microscale apparatus and a thermographic visualisation system. Liquid bridges heated from above and from below are investigated. The numerical and experimental results show that for each aspect ratio and for both the heating conditions the onset of the Marangoni oscillatory flow is characterized by the appearance of a standing wave regime; after a certain time, a second transition to a travelling wave regime occurs. The three‐dimensional flow organization at the onset of instability is different according to whether the bridge is heated from above or from below. When the liquid bridge is heated from below, the critical Marangoni number is larger, the critical wave number (m) is smaller and the standing wave regime is more stable, compared with the case of the bridge heated from above. For the critical azimuthal wave number, two correlation laws are found as a function of the geometrical aspect ratio A.