Rayleigh-Bénard convection phenomena correspond to the unstable state of an horizontal and dilatable fluid layer under a temperature gradient DT. If it exceeds a given critical value DTc, convective movements appear. The phenomena becomes more complex for yield stress fluids. This threshold is added to stabilizing forces exerced within the fluid and alters the fundamental heat and mass transfer. The fluid is initially at rest and therefore the velocity gradient is zero, and the effective viscosity is infinite everywhere. The linear stability approach is unable to respond because we have to disturb Archimedes forces in a fluid with infinite viscosity. In this thesis, Rayleigh-Bénard experiments were performed with Carbopol 940 solutions which expressing a yield stress. The experimental apparatus allowed us to obtain interesting quantitative and qualitative results. The non-linear effect at the beginning of convection was observed and thermoconvective movements were observed using shadowgraphy technique.
