On the Onset of Taylor Vortices in Finite-Length Cavity Subject to a Radial Oscillation Motion

Abstract

Taylor-Couette flow (TCF) is an important template for studying various mechanisms of the laminarturbulent transition of rotating fluid in enclosed cavity. It is also relevant to engineering applications like bearings, fluid mixing and filtration. Furthermore, this flow system is of potential importance for development of bio-separators employing Taylor vortices for enhancement of mass transfer. The fluid flowing in the annular gap between two rotating cylinders has been used as paradigm for the hydrodynamic stability theory and the transition to turbulence. In this paper, the fluid in an annulus between short concentric cylinders is investigated numerically for a three dimensional viscous and incompressible flow. The inner cylinder rotates freely about a vertical axis through its centre while the outer cylinder is held stationary and oscillating radially. The main purpose is to examine the effect of a pulsatile motion of the outer cylinder on the onset of Taylor vortices in the vicinity of the threshold of transition, i.e., from the laminar Couette flow to the occurrence of Taylor vortex flow. The numerical results obtained here show significant topological changes on the Taylor vortices. In addition, the active control deeply affects the occurrence of the first instability. It is established that the appearance of the Taylor vortex flow is then substantially delayed with respect to the classical case; flow without control.

Oscillating flow of rarefied viscous gas between cylinders of finite length. Numerical study

“…The study of the Taylor-Couette problem provides valuable insights into the fundamental aspects of fluid dynamics, such as stability, transition to turbulence, and the influence of boundary conditions on flow patterns. The problem has been extensively studied both experimentally and theoretically, and it continues to be a subject of active research in fluid mechanics [3,5,6,7,15,16,17]. In Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), the Taylor-Couette problem can be relevant in certain applications involving rotating components or fluidic systems.…”

Flow Patterns in a Combined Taylor–couette Geometry

“…So far, an abundance of theoretical, experimental and numerical studies on the formation of Taylor vortices between two rotating cylinders, circular Couette flow, with either or both of them rotating have been presented with various geometric parameters, i.e., aspect ratio and radii ratio, focusing on the flow behavior and the transition to turbulence under different boundary conditions [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The researchers have concluded that the various flow regimes occurring in the cylindrical Taylor-Couette system depend on the radii ratio and aspect ratio of this geometry.…”