Oscillatory and Chaotic Buoyant-Thermocapillary Convection in the Large-Scale Liquid Bridge

To cooperate with Chinese TG-2 space experiment project, the transition process from steady to regular oscillatory flow, and finally to chaos is experimentally studied in buoyant-thermocapillary convection. The onset of oscillation and further transitional convective behavior are detected by measuring the temperature in large-scale liquid bridge of 2cSt silicone oil. To identify the various dynamical regimes, the Fourier transform and fractal theory are used to reveal the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the flow motion. The experimental results indicate the co-existence of quasi-periodic and the Feigenbaum bifurcation in chaos.