Thermocapillary convection and existence of continuous liquid layers in the absence of gravity

Abstract

Thermocapillary convection in an infinite liquid layer driven by a temperature gradient parallel to the interface in the absence of gravity is considered. It is demonstrated that the temperature field has to satisfy restrictive conditions in order for a continuous layer to exist. It is further shown that the same conditions apply to long finite layers. Such layers, when subject to heating that does not satisfy the existence conditions, undergo large deformations and possible break up if the layer is sufficiently long.