Dielectrophoretic Rayleigh-Bénard convection under microgravity conditions

Thermal convection in a dielectric fluid layer between two parallel plates subjected to an alternating electric field and a temperature gradient is investigated under microgravity conditions. A thermoelectric coupling resulting from the thermal variation of the electric permittivity of the fluid produces the dielectrophoretic (DEP) body force, which can be regarded as thermal buoyancy due to an effective gravity. This electric gravity can destabilize a stationary conductive state of the fluid to develop convection. The similarity of the DEP thermal convection with the Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection is examined by considering its behavior in detail by a linear stability theory and a two-dimensional direct numerical simulation. The results are analyzed from an energetic viewpoint and in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equation. The stabilizing effects of a thermoelectric feedback make the critical parameters different from those in the RB instability. The nonuniformity of the electric gravity arising from the finite variation of permittivity also affects the critical parameters. The characteristic constants of the GL equation are comparable with those for the RB convection. The heat transfer in the DEP convection is weaker than in the RB convection as a consequence of the feedback that impedes the convection.