The effect of high-frequency vibration on the onset of Marangoni convection in a horizontal liquid layer

The effect of high-frequency translational harmonic vibrations on the onset of thermocapillary convection in a horizontal liquid layer, bounded above by a free surface and below by a solid wall, is investigated. by averaging the convection equations. It is shown that longitudinal vibrations have no effect on convective instability. If the direction of the vibration contains a transverse component, and the action of the vibration has a stabilizing effect: the free boundary of a uniform liquid is smoothed and thermal convection of a non-uniform liquid may be suppressed. The maximum stabilizing effect is obtained for vertical vibrations. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.