Determining the inertial states of low Prandtl number fluids using electrochemical cells

The quality of crystals grown from the melt is often deteriorated by the presence of buoyancy-induced convection, produced by temperature or concentration inhomogenities. It is, therefore, important to develop techniques to visualize such flows. In this study, a novel technique is developed that uses solid-state electrochemical cells to establish and measure dissolved oxygen boundary conditions. To visualize convection, a packet of oxygen is electrochemically introduced at a specific location in the melt. As the fluid convects, this oxygen packet follows the flow, acting as a tracer. Electrochemical sensors located along the enclosure then detect the oxygen as it passes.; Over sufficiently long times, oxygen diffusion is important; consequently, the oxygen diffusivity in the fluid is measured. This diffusivity is determined using both transient and steady state experiments with tin and tin-lead alloys as model fluids. It is concluded that the presence of convection due to solutal gradients and/or tilt increases the measured diffusivity by one-half to one order of magnitude. The oxygen diffusivity in tin-lead alloys is measured and the results show that the alloy diffusivities are lower than those of the corresponding pure metals. This concentration functionality is explained with a multicomponent diffusion model and shows good agreement.; Rayleigh-Bénard convection was used to validate the electrochemical approach to flow visualization. Thus, a numerical characterization of the second critical Rayleigh numbers in liquid tin was conducted for a variety of Cartesian aspect ratios. The extremely low Prandtl number of tin represents the lowest value studied numerically. Additionally, flow field oscillations are visualized and the effect of tilt on convecting systems is quantified.; Finally, experimental studies of the effect of convection in liquid tin are presented. Three geometries are studied: (1) double cell with vertical concentration gradients; (2) double cell with horizontal concentration gradients; and (3) multiple cell with vertical temperature gradients. The first critical Rayleigh number transition is detected with geometry (1) and it is concluded that current measurements are not as affected by convection as EMF measurements. The system is compared with numerical simulations in geometry (2), and oscillating convection is detected with geometry (3).