Convection on a non-uniformly heated, rotating plane

Abstract

This investigation is concerned with the convective motions in a shallow layer of silicone oil on a plane, circular copper plate which is heated at the rim and cooled at the centre and at the same time rotated around a vertical axis. The oil is in touch with a glass lid, which is cooled uniformly. With sufficient heating axially symmetric concentric rings develop. The details of the motion can be described as a superposition of a circulation due to the horizontal temperature gradient and a circulation of opposite sense due to the centrifugal force, with the motions due to the vertical instability. There seems to be a conversion into rolls whose axes point radially, if the centrifugal circulation becomes too strong.