MAE 5130: VISCOUS FLOWS Taylor-Couette Flow September 23, 2010 Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Florida Institute of Technology D. R. Kirk
STABLE VS. UNSTABLE BEHAVIOR OF TAYLOR-COUETTE FLOW Outer cylinder is stationary, w1=0 Inner cylinder is rotating, w0 For small clearance (r1-r0) << r0, the critical value for instability is given by Taylor number Ta = r0(r1-r0)3(w0/n)2 = 1708 Above critical Ta, flow pattern changes into 3D laminar flow Counterrotating pairs of toroidal vorticies (also see Figure 5-22a in text) At this Ta solution is stable
FURTHER INCREASING Ta in TAYLOR-COUETTE FLOW