Torque scaling and mean velocity profiles in a wide-gap Taylor-Couette flow

Abstract eng:
A wide-gap Taylor-Couette (T-C) configuration with a radius ratio of 0.1 is investigated through direct numerical simulation. Both axis-symmetric and fully three dimensional cases are simulated for a range of Reynolds numbers (Rea ) from 100 to 1000. Rotating inner cylinder and a stationary outer cylinder result in distributions of angular momentum near the walls which are susceptible to Gortler instability. Unlike plane Couette flow which exhibits symmetry about the mid plane, wide-gap Taylor-Couette flow owing to circular geometry, has distinct and sharply contrasted behaviour of flow at the two walls. Our investigations into the low Rea regime, shows the presence of circumferentially elongated eddies resembling Gortler vortices near the inner wall. These observations lend support to earlier studies which report experimental observations of near wall flow [3, 5, 6]. Mean angular momentum profiles show regions in the annulus with a negligible gradient. Further, scaling of the non-dimensional torque (G) with Rea is reported.

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