Abstract
In on-orbit experiments of the thermal-fluid phenomena, the dynamic behavior of the fluid is affected by a fluctuation of the gravity level called as the g-jitter. In this research, the natural convection in a closed cylindrical cavity subjected to the g-jitter during the parabolic flight was studied experimentally and numerically. The cavity was filled by the water as test fluid. The wall of the cavity was cooled by the cooling water. Two thin metal films were evaporated on a rod installed along a cylinder axis. The films were kept at a constant temperature electrically. Thus the variation of the surface heat flux was able to be measured through the change of the electric current. The related numerical analyses are also performed. When a g-jitter of a relatively high frequency is applied, the phase difference arises between the gravity and the heat flux variations. The phase shift found in the present numerical analysis agrees with the one obtained from the experiment.
