Buoyant convection driven by an encapsuled spinning disk with axial suction

Abstract

An analysis is made of the flow and thermal structures of a viscous fluid confined in a vertically mounted cylindrical container. The bottom endwall disk and the sidewall are rotating steadily about the cylinder axis, and the top endwall disk is stationary. A gravitationally stable temperature difference is applied on the container boundaries. In order to formulate a flow model of greater relevance to the Czochralski growth of crystals from melt, an axial suction through the rotating disk and a concomitant radial inflow through the sidewall are imposed. The main motivation of the study is to examine the effects of suction in a finite configuration and of the fluid stratification. Numerical solutions to the axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations with the Boussinesq assumption have been obtained.