Instability thresholds for thermal convection in a Kelvin–Voigt fluid of variable order
Brian Straughan
Abstract
Abstract We present numerical techniques for calculating instability thresholds in a model for thermal convection in a complex viscoelastic fluid of Kelvin–Voigt type. The theory presented is valid for various orders of an exponential fading memory term, and the strategy for obtaining the neutral curves and instability thresholds is discussed in the general case. Specific numerical results are presented for a fluid of order zero, also known as a Navier–Stokes–Voigt fluid, and fluids of order 1 and 2. For the latter cases it is shown that oscillatory convection may occur, and the nature of the stationary and oscillatory convection branches is investigated in detail, including where the transition from one to the other takes place.