Effect of free surface radiation in axisymmetric thermocapillary flows

A theoretical and computational model which considers the interface boundary conditions with the required accuracy, has been previously presented for plane two dimensional flows. The model is here applied to axisymmetric flows and physical conditions simulating the experiments conducted by other authors at ground level for very small characteristic dimensions of the floating zones. In particular the effect of the free surface radiation, coupled with several different imposed temperature gradients between the solid walls, has been considered. The influence of the free surface diffusivity coefficients on the bulk convective flows is also analyzed in the case of pure radiation.