“…In the early 1970s, Takagi et al [1], Whiffin et al [2] and Brandle [3] reported the so-called spoke patterns and wave patterns seen on the free surface in some oxide melts. Concerning the spoke patterns, many efforts have been made to reveal the mechanism [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Miller and Pernell [4,5] performed some experiments by using water as a simulated garnet melt and deduced that the thermocapillary instability could be an indispensable factor in forming the spoke patterns.…”