Thermal convection in a magnetized conducting fluid with the Cattaneo-Christov heat-flow model

The convective instability of a Maxwell-Cattaneo fluid in the presence of a vertical magnetic field

We study the instability of a Bénard layer subject to a vertical uniform magnetic field, in which the fluid obeys the Maxwell-Cattaneo (MC) heat flux-temperature relation. We extend the work of Bissell (Proc. R. Soc. A 472, 20160649 (doi:10.1098/rspa.2016.0649)) to non-zero values of the magnetic Prandtl number p m . With non-zero p m , the order of the dispersion relation is increased, leading to considerably richer behaviour. An asymptotic analysis at large values of the Chandrasekhar number Q confirms that the MC effect becomes important when C Q 1/2 is O(1), where C is the MC number. In this regime, we derive a scaled system that is independent of Q. When CQ 1/2 is large, the results are consistent with those derived from the governing equations in the limit of Prandtl number p → ∞ with p m finite; here we identify a new mode of instability, which is due neither to inertial nor induction effects. In the large p m regime, we show how a transition can occur between oscillatory modes of different horizontal scale. For Q ≫ 1 and small values of p, we show that the critical Rayleigh number is non-monotonic in p provided that C > 1/6. While the analysis of this paper is performed for stress-free boundaries, it can be shown that other types of mechanical boundary conditions give the same leading-order results.

Convective instabilities of Maxwell–Cattaneo fluids

Motivated by the need to understand better the dynamics of non-Fourier fluids, we examine the linear and weakly nonlinear stabilities of a horizontal layer of fluid obeying the Maxwell–Cattaneo relationship of heat flux and temperature using three different forms of the time derivative of the heat flux. Linear stability mode regime diagrams in the parameter plane have been established and used to summarize the linear instabilities. The energy balance of the system is used to identify the mechanism by which the Maxwell–Cattaneo effect (i) introduces overstability, (ii) leads to preferred stationary modes with the critical Rayleigh and wavelengths either both increasing or both decreasing, (iii) gives rise to instabilities in a layer heated from above, and (iv) enhances heat transfer. A formal weakly nonlinear analysis leads to evolution equations for the amplitudes of linear instability modes. It is shown that the amplitude of the stationary mode obeys an equation of the Landau–Stuart type. The two equally excitable overstable modes obey two equations of the same type coupled by an interaction term. The evolution of the different amplitudes leads to supercritical stability, supercritical instability or subcritical instability depending on the model and parameter values. The results are presented in regime diagrams.