Axisymmetry breaking instabilities of natural convection in a vertical bridgman growth configuration

A. Yu Gelfgat, P. Z. Bar-Yoseph, A. Solan

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43 Scopus citations

Abstract

A study of the three-dimensional axisymmetry-breaking instability of an axisymmetric convective flow associated with crystal growth from bulk of melt is presented. Convection in a vertical cylinder with a parabolic temperature profile on the sidewall is considered as a representative model. The main objective is the calculation of critical parameters corresponding to a transition from the steady axisymmetric to the three-dimensional non-axisymmetric (steady or oscillatory) flow pattern. A parametric study of the dependence of the critical Grashof number Grcr on the Prandtl number 0≤Pr≤0.05 (characteristic for semiconductor melts) and the aspect ratio of the cylinder 1≤A≤4 (A = height/radius) is carried out. The stability diagram Grcr(Pr, A) corresponding to the axisymmetric - three-dimensional transition is reported for the first time. The calculations are done using the spectral Galerkin method allowing an effective and accurate three-dimensional stability analysis. It is shown that the axisymmetric flow in relatively low cylinders tends to be oscillatory unstable, while in tall cylinders the instability sets in due to a steady bifurcation caused by the Rayleigh-Benard mechanism. The calculated neutral curves are non-monotonous and contain hysteresis loops. The strong dependence of the critical Grashof number and the azimuthal periodicity of the resulting three-dimensional flow indicate the importance of a comprehensive parametric stability analysis in different crystal growth configurations. In particular, it is shown that the first instability of the flow considered is always three-dimensional.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)316-325
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Crystal Growth
Volume220
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2000

Funding

FundersFunder number
Fund for Promotion of Research
Israel High Performance Computer Unit
Israel Ministry of Science8575-1-98
Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

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