Convective Patterns in Binary Fluid Mixtures with Positive Separation Ratios

Abstract

We summarize our findings about laterally periodic convection structures in binary mixtures in the Rayleigh-Benard system for positive Soret effect. Stationary roll, square, and crossroll solutions and their stability are determined with a multimode Galerkin expansion. The oscillatory competition of squares and rolls in the form of crossroll oscillations is reviewed. They undergo a subharmonic bifurcation cascade where the oscillation period grows in integer steps as a consequence of an entrainment process.