Thermocapillary deformation of a thin locally heated horizontal liquid layer

In this paper, steady thermocapillary flow in a thin horizontal layer of a viscous incompressible liquid with a free surface is considered. An axially symmetric steady problem with a localized thermal action on a horizontal liquid layer with a deformable free surface is solved in a thin-layer approximation. In addition to the thermocapillary effect, the model takes into account the capillary pressure caused by the free surface variable curvature and the convective mechanism of heat transfer in the liquid. Analytical expressions for the velocity vector components as functions of the liquid layer thickness and surface temperature are obtained. The free surface and velocity profiles caused by various kinds of heating are calculated. The influence of convective heat transfer on the flow pattern is analyzed.