Thermoelectrohydrodynamic convection in parallel plate capacitors under dielectric heating conditions

Abstract

A theoretical model of thermal convection induced by dielectric heating is developed via further exploitation of the analogy between gravity-driven thermal convection and convection driven by an electrohydrodynamic effect. The model is applied to a horizontal layer of dielectric fluid to determine the conditions of convection generation by the linear stability theory. The competition between gravity and the electrohydrodynamic effect under dielectric heating gives rise to different flow patterns depending on the Rayleigh number.