Thermal convection in a magnetic fluid

Abstract

A theoretical study of the character and stability of thermomagnetic flow in a microgravity environment is performed. Convection is driven owing to imposed radial magnetic and temperature gradients in a cylindrical shell containing a ferrofluid. Linear, nonlinear, and computational methods are employed. It is shown that convection sets in as a stable supercritical bifurcation. Results obtained for a specific shell configuration are in good agreement with experiments.