Electroconvection of a poorly conducting fluid in a steady electric field

The emergence of electroconvection and nonlinear flows of a nonisothermal poorly conducting fluid in a steady electric field of a horizontal capacitor is investigated. The main mechanism of charge formation in the fluids under investigation is electric conduction due to the temperature dependence of the charge mobility. The Galerkin method is used for obtaining a system of nonlinear differential equations for the amplitudes of spatial modes; on the basis of this system, steady-state, periodic, and random nonlinear regimes of the fluid flow are investigated. The scenarios of transition to chaotic flows (via intermittence and a subharmonic cascade) are discovered. The interrelation between the electroconductive and thermogravitational mechanisms of convection is analyzed, and hysteretic transitions between monotonic and oscillatory regimes are studied. Qualitative comparison with the experiment is carried out.