The onset of double diffusive convection in a viscoelastic fluid layer

The onset of double diffusive convection in a viscoelastic fluid layer is studied using a linear and a weak nonlinear stability analyses. The onset criterion for stationary, oscillatory and finite amplitude convection is derived analytically. There is a competition between the processes of thermal diffusion, solute diffusion and viscoelasticity that causes the convection to set in through oscillatory mode rather than stationary. The effect of Deborah number, retardation parameter, solutal Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, Lewis number on the stability of the system is investigated. It is shown that the critical frequency increases with Deborah number and solutal Rayleigh number while it decreases with retardation parameter and Lewis number. The nonlinear theory based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method is used to find the heat and mass transfers. The transient behaviour of the Nusselt number and Sherwood number is investigated by solving the finite amplitude equations using Runge-Kutta method. The effect of viscoelastic parameters on heat and mass transfer is brought out. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.