Sliding Couette flow in ribbed annuli

Abstract eng:
The flow in an annulus driven by the axial movement of one of the cylinders has been studied. The stationary cylinder has been fitted with axisymmetric ribs. It has been shown that the flow is subject to a centrifugal-force-driven instability giving rise to the formation of axial vortices. The critical stability conditions have been determined for a wide range of geometries of practical interest. Reduction of the annulus’ radius leads to qualitatively different flow responses depending on the position of the cylinder driving the flow. The critical Reynolds number is reduced and the range of the rib wave numbers that are capable of inducing the instability is increased when the outer cylinder drives the flow. The trend is reversed when the inner cylinder drives the flow.

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