Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University

Institute of Cybernetics
Department: Applied Mathematics
Specialization: Applied Mathematics and Informatics

Comsol Multiphysics simulation of Marangoni convection

Student: ________ Ryabikina A.S.

Group: 8b90
Scientific advisor: ________ Ogorodnikov A.S.
Linguistic advisor: ________ Kuznetsova I.N.

Tomsk 2012
 Annotation
This research is dedicated to the modeling of Marangoni convection
emerged in different technology intensive fields. Substitution of a real model
with an experimental one is critical as the temperatures are very high and
materials are metals. On the basis of Navier-Stokes and energy balance
equations the modeling of the effect has been carried out by means of Comsol
Multiphysics package. As the result there is a temperature difference range
whereby the Marangoni effect is more expressed.
Key words: Marangoni effect, convection, conduction, partial differential
equations, liquid, oil, metals, experimental model, modeling, Comsol
Multiphysics.
Field of knowledge: computer modeling.
Related sciences: mathematics, physics, mathematical physics, fluid
dynamics.

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 Contents

Introduction...........................................................................................................3
Covering equations................................................................................................3
Modeling...............................................................................................................4
Results...................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................7

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 Introduction
Marangoni convection occurs when the surface tension of an interface
(generally liquid-air) depends on the species concentration or the temperature
distribution. It is important in the fields of welding, crystal growth, electron
beam melting of metals.
Direct experimental studies are not easy to carry out because the materials
are often metals and temperatures are very high. One possibility is to replace the
real system with an experimental model using a transparent liquid at the ambient
temperatures. This model describes stationary behavior of a vessel filled with
silicone oil, the thermo-physical properties of which are known.
The aim of the study is to compute the temperature difference range that
leads to a flow through the Marangoni effect.

Covering equations
A stationary momentum balance describes the velocity field and the
pressure distribution (Navier-Stokes equations):

,
where
η - dynamic viscosity,
u - velocity vector,
ρ – density,
p – pressure,
F - external forces per unit volume.
The fluid heating is associated with energy balance:

,
where
k - thermal conductivity,
T – temperature,

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cp - heat capacity,
Q – source term.
Variations in temperature produce Archimedes’ force:

,
where
α - thermal expansion coefficient,
g - acceleration due to gravity,
ΔT - temperature difference between the right and left wall in the model
geometry.
The forces that act on the interface (liquid/air) through the Marangoni
effect:

,
where
γ - temperature derivative of the surface tension. [1]

Modeling
The model has been created in Comsol Multiphysics package that is used
to simulate and calculate the majority of scientific tasks based on partial
differential equations using technique of finite elements. [2]
Firstly, it’s necessary to choose necessary modes. In our case, these are
Incompressible Navier-Stokes; Convection and Conduction; Weak Form,
Boundary (Fig.1).

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 Fig.1. Mode selection.

Then, subdomain and boundary settings for every mode and mesh
generation are supposed to be entered. As a result, the vessel will take the form
shown in Figure 2.

Fig. 2. The vessel after mesh generation.

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 Results
The result of the solution through COMSOL Multiphysics is a graph of
temperature and velocity in the vessel represented in the form of a rectangle. As
it has turned out, the Marangoni effect is expressed more strongly when

temperature difference increases. At a low temperature difference (

) the temperature field is not connected to the velocity field. Anyway, the
temperature decreases almost linearly from left to right (Fig.3).

Fig.3. Temperature and velocity figure, ∆T = 10-3K.

When temperature difference increases to 2K it’s easy to see how the

Marangoni convection affects the temperature distribution: the higher liquid
temperature is the higher velocity will be. (Fig.4).

Fig.4. Temperature and velocity figure, ∆T = 2K.

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 Conclusion
Regarding the Marangoni effect, direct experimental studies are not easy
to carry out because the materials are often metals and temperatures are very
high. In the course of the research work the real system has been substituted
with the experimental model – a vessel filled with silicone oil. Its thermo-
physical properties were known. The temperature difference range that leads to a
flow through the Marangoni effect has been calculated in Comsol Multiphysics.
It has been shown that the direct correlation between temperature and velocity
field is affected by Marangoni convection.

References
1. Levich V.G. Physicochemical Hydrodynamics. – New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
1962.
2. Егоров В.И. Применение ЭВМ для решения задач теплопроводности.
Учебное пособие.– СПб: СПб ГУ ИТМО, 2006.- 4с.
3. Огородников А.С. Моделирование в среде Matlab – Comsol 3.5a. Часть 1:
учебное пособие. Томск: Изд-во Томского политехнического
университета, 2012.
4. Batchelor, G.K. An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics. – Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1967.
5. Space Science News Archive [Электронный ресурс] / Physical Simulation of
Marangoni Convection in Weld Pools . – Режим доступа:
http://spacescience.spaceref.com/, свободный. – Загл. с экрана. - Яз.англ.
6. Comsol Multiphysics [Электронный ресурс] / Model Gallery. – Режим
доступа: http://www.comsol.com/, свободный. – Загл. с экрана. – Яз.англ.
7. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Электронный ресурс] / Navier-Stokes
equations. – Режим доступа: http://www.wikipedia.org, свободный. – Загл.
с экрана. – Яз.англ.
8. Physics Forums [Электронный ресурс] / Thermodynamics Energy balance
Equation. – Режим доступа: http://www.physicsforums.com/, свободный. –
Загл. с экрана. – Яз.англ.

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9. Thermopedia [Электронный ресурс] / Archimede’s Force. – Режим
доступа: http://www.thermopedia.com/, свободный. – Загл. с экрана. –
Яз.англ.
10. Scholarpedia [Электронный ресурс] / Navier-Stokes Equations:
Mathematical Properties. – Режим доступа: http://www.scholarpedia.com/,
свободный. – Загл. с экрана. – Яз.англ.