Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2025

Thermocapillary Convection Space Experiment on the SJ-10 Recoverable Satellite
Published on: March 11, 2020
Intermittent Thermal Convection in Jammed Emulsions
Francesca Pelusi1, Andrea Scagliarini2,3, Mauro Sbragaglia4
1<a href="https://ror.org/00ygy3d85">Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo</a>, CNR-Via Pietro Castellino 111, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Abstract:
We study the process of thermal convection in jammed emulsions with a yield-stress rheology. We find that heat transfer occurs via an intermittent mechanism, whereby intense short-lived convective "heat bursts" are spaced out by long-lasting conductive periods. This behavior is the result of a sequence of fluidization-rigidity transitions, rooted in a nontrivial interplay between emulsion yield-stress rheology and plastic activity, which we characterize via a statistical analysis of the dynamics at the droplet scale. We also show that droplets' coalescence induced during heat bursts leads to a spatially heterogeneous phase inversion of the emulsion which eventually supports a sustained convective state.
Related Concept Videos
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant...
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I
Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium
The concept of temperature has evolved from the common concepts of hot and cold. The scientific definition of temperature explains more than just our sense of hot and cold. Temperature is operationally defined as the quantity measured with a thermometer. Furthermore, temperature is...
Mechanism of heat transfer
Steady, Laminar Flow Between Parallel Plates

