Energy stability in the Bénard problem for a fluid of second grade (Q761875)

A constitutive equation for an incompressible homogeneous fluid of second grade is used (1) \(T=-PI+\mu A_ 1+\alpha_ 1A_ 2+\alpha_ 2A^ 2_ 1\); where \(A_ 1\) and \(A_ 2\) are the first two Rivlin-Ericksen tensors. A strong stability result is established for the problem of density variation driven convection when a fluid for which the stress has the form (1) is heated from below. The critical Rayleigh number for stability of convection in a fluid of second grade is given by means of the energy method.