Low-Prandtl-number Rayleigh-Bénard convection with stress-free boundaries

Results of direct numerical simulations on Rayleigh-Bénard convection in low-Prandtl-number convection with stress-free horizontal boundaries are presented. Simulations are done in a three dimensional rectangular simulation box of dimensions L x × L y × 1. Instabilities and the corresponding fluid patterns near onset of convection are investigated by varying the horizontal aspect ratio η = L y / L x in a range 1 ≤ η ≤ 4. Fluid patterns are complex and unsteady at the instability onset for η ≥ 2. They consist of wavy rolls, rhombic patterns and oblique wavy rolls. The patterns near onset are time periodic for η < 2. We observe periodic wavy rolls for η = 4 / 3. Homoclinic bifurcations are observed for η = 1 for 0 ≤ Pr ≤ 0.03. We observe spontaneous breaking of a single limit cycle in two and again spontaneous merging of two limit cycles into one in a simulation box with η = 1, as the reduced Rayleigh number r = Ra / R a c is raised at a fixed value of Pr . The effect of Prandtl number on the homoclinic bifurcations is also investigated. We also present a low-dimensional model, which captures the instability sequence quite accurately for η = 1.