Numerical simulation was applied to investigate the Taylor vortex flow inside the concentric cylinders with a constant radial temperature gradient. The reliability of numerical simulation method was verified by the experimental results of PIV. The radial velocity and temperature distribution in plain and 12-slit model at different axial locations were compared, and the heat flux distributions along the inner cylinder wall at different work conditions were obtained. In the plain model, the average surface heat flux of inner cylinder increased with the inner cylinder rotation speed. In slit model, the slit wall significantly changed the distribution of flow field and temperature in the annulus gap, and the radial flow was strengthen obviously , which promoted the heat transfer process at the same working condition.

The wavy vortex flow in the plain model was studied by experimental measurement; the preliminary feature of wavy vortex flow was obtained. This flow field in the plain model was also studied by numerical simulation. The reliability of numerical simulation was verified by comparing with the experimental and numerical simulation results. To study the slit wall effect on the wavy vortex flow regime, another two models with different slit number were considered; the slit number was 6 and 12. By comparing the wavy vortex flow field in different models, the axial fluctuation of Taylor vortices was found to be different, which was increased with the increasing of slit number. The maximum radial velocity from the inner cylinder to the outer one in the 6-slit number was increased by 12.7% compared to that of plain model. From the results of different circumferential position in the same slit model, it can be found that the maximum radial velocity in slit plane is significantly greater than that in other planes. The size of Taylor vortices in different models was also calculated, which was found to be increased in the 6-slit model but was not changed as the slit number increased further.

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