Gravitational effects on evaporative convection at microscale

Thermocapillary convection induced by phase change (evaporation) has been investigated in confined environment. This paper introduces some insight into the physics of evaporatively-driven thermocapillary convection and emphasizes on the interaction between the observed convection and gravity. Non-equilibrium interfacial conditions lead to temperature/surface tension gradients which drive convective patterns. The latent heat of evaporation leads to an important cooling effect near the triple contact line. Evaporation of volatile liquids in capillary tubes is experimentally investigated to demonstrate the above effects. The size of the capillaries is found to be an important factor in the effect that gravity could have on thermocapillary convection. The oscillatory behaviour observed when buoyancy affects thermocapillary convection could be explained through the coupling between interfacial temperature and the flow within the liquid. The three dimensional nature of the flow structure is found to extend the effect of gravity to the horizontal section of the flow.