A parallel computer implementation of the Asymptotic Numerical Method to study thermal convection instabilities

We have developed a numerical model to efficiently compute steady-state combined buoyancy and thermocapillary convection solutions. It features a parallel computer implementation of an Asymptotic Numerical Method to perform steady-state path-following and locate bifurcation points in problems involving large size algebraic systems, up to few million degrees of freedom. The model has been first validated on a problem for which a reference solution exists and then is used to analyse the influence of the container size and shape on Rayleigh–Bénard–Marangoni convection and its related cellular pattern.