Effect of a Variable Gravity Field on Convection in an Anisotropic Porous Medium With Internal Heat Source and Inclined Temperature Gradient

The convective instability of a horizontal fluid-saturated anisotropic porous layer, with internal heat source and inclined temperature gradient, subject to a gravity field varying with distance in the layer, is investigated. A linear stability analysis is performed and the resulting eigenvalue problem solved using a Galerkin technique. In the absence of an inclined temperature gradient, an increase in the variable gravity parameter above −1 destabilizes the system. In its presence interesting developments occur. An increase in the heat generation destabilizes the system when the variable gravity parameter is nonnegative. When it is negative the opposite effect is seen.