Study of thermoconvective flows induced by vibrations in reduced gravity

We report an experimental evidence of convection caused by translational vibration of non-uniformly heated fluid in low gravity. The theory of thermovibrational convection in weightlessness has been well developed but experimental proof of this type of motion was not enough convincing. An innovative point of the experiment is the observation of temperature field in front and side views of the cubic cell. In addition, particle tracing is employed. The evolution of temperature field is studied systematically in a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes. It is demonstrated that vibrational convection enhance the heat transfer in the system. The mean flow structures previously reported in numerical studies are confirmed.