Influence of symmetric/asymmetric boundaries on axisymmetric convection in a cylindrical enclosure in the presence of a weak vertical throughflow

The linear and nonlinear stability of axisymmetric convection of a viscous fluid in a cylindrical enclosure heated from below is investigated for various radius to height ratios. A weak vertical throughflow is imposed in a gravity-aligned or a gravity-opposing manner. Symmetric and asymmetric boundaries of free-free, rigid-rigid and rigid-free types are considered for lower and upper boundaries with isothermal temperature boundary condition. The side-walls are assumed to be rigid and adiabatic. A convergent Maclaurin series representation is considered for the finding of axial trial eigenfunctions. In order to corroborate the results of the present study with those of a previous investigation, the critical Rayleigh number and the number of radial rolls manifesting for any given aspect ratio are determined in the case of no throughflow and an exact match is found. Further, the influence of boundaries and the effect of throughflow on chaotic and periodic regimes of motion are studied with the help of a time series solution and the largest Lyapunov exponent as indicators of chaos. The novelty of the present study is the use of a Maclaurin series representation for the eigenfunctions of the linear problem and using the same in determining the solution with the convective mode.