Marangoni convection in a liquid bridge under microgravity conditions during parabolic flight

Marangoni convection in a silicone oil liquid bridge under microgravity conditions during parabolic flight was observed. The developing process of axis-symmetric laminar Marangoni convection was studied experimentally and numerically. To reach a steady state of the temperature field, much more time was needed than to reach a steady state of the velocity field. The effects of initial temperature conditions inside a liquid bridge, heat transfer across the free surface, and temperature dependence of viscosity on both velocity and temperature field were studied numerically.