Onset of buoyancy-driven instability in a pure melt solidified from above

When a pure liquid is solidified from above, convection may be induced in a thermally-unstable layer. The onset of buoyancy-driven convection during time-dependent solidification is investigated by using similarly transformed disturbance equations. The thermal disturbance distribution of the solid phase is approximated by WKB method, and the effects of various parameters on the stability condition of melt phase are analyzed theoretically. The present constant temperature cooling model gives more unstable results than the constant solidification velocity model of Smith [1].