Surface instability of nonisothermal magnetizable fluid layers

The present analysis deals with the influence of a nonuniform temperature distribution on the stability of the free surface of a magnetizable fluid. Equations and boundary conditions are formulated which describe a combinational surface/convective instability. The problem of the surface instability of a horizontal fluid layer with a free surface in a uniform magnetic field normal to the layer is solved, neglecting convective heat transfer. For a layer heated from below, it is shown that both the gravitational and thermocapillary mechanisms of convective motion act to reduce the critical value of surface instability. Surface stability is affected also by magnetic field disturbances associated with thermal disturbances and the curvature of the free surface.