On flow between counter-rotating cylinders

1982 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 433-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Jones

Axisymmetric flows between counter-rotating cylinders of varying radius ratio are examined. The stability of these flows to non-axisymmetric disturbances is considered, and the results of these calculations are compared with experiments.

The effect of an axial pressure gradient on the stability of viscous flow between rotating cylinders is discussed on the basis of the narrow gap approximation, the assumption of axisymmetric disturbances, and the assumption that the cylinders rotate in the same direction. The onset of instability then depends on both the Taylor number ( T ) and the axial Reynolds number (R). For large values of R, the dominant mechanism of instability is of the Tollmien-Schlichting type and the present theory is based therefore on a generalization of the asymptotic methods of analysis that have been developed for the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. The present results, when combined with previous results for small values of R, give the complete stability boundary in the -plane. Only limited agreement is found with existing experimental data and it is suggested therefore that it may be necessary to consider either non-axisymmetric disturbances or nonlinear effects.


A numerical study is made of the effects of both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric disturbances on the stability of spiral flow between rotating cylinders. If we let Ω 1 and Ω 2 be the angular speeds of the inner and outer cylinders, and R 1 and R 2 be their respective radii, then for fixed values of η = R 1 / R 2 and μ = Ω 2 / Ω 1 , the onset of instability depends on both the Taylor number T and the axial Reynolds number R . Here R is based on the gap width between the cylinders and the average axial velocity of the basic flow, while T is based on the average angular speeds of the cylinders. Using the compound matrix method, we have computed the complete stability boundary in the R , T -plane for axisymmetric disturbances with η = 0.95 and μ = 0. We find that, for sufficiently high Reynolds numbers, there are two distinct axisymmetric modes corresponding to the usual shear and rotational instabilities. We have also obtained the stability boundaries for non-axisymmetric disturbances for R ≼ 6000 for η = 0.95 and 0.77 with μ = 0. These last results are found to be in substantial agreement with the experimental observations of Snyder (1962, 1965), Nagib (1972) and Mavec (1973) in the low and moderate axial Reynolds number régimes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 631 ◽  
pp. 343-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
HUEI CHU WENG ◽  
CHA'O-KUANG CHEN ◽  
MIN-HSING CHANG

In this study, the theory of micropolar fluids is employed to study the stability problem of flow between two concentric rotating cylinders. The field equations subject to no-slip conditions (non-zero velocity and microrotation velocity components) at the wall surfaces are solved. The analytical solutions of the velocity and microrotation velocity fields as well as the shear stress difference, couple stress and strain rate for basic flow are obtained. The equations with respect to non-axisymmetric disturbances are derived and solved by a direct numerical procedure. It is found that non-zero wall-surface microrotation velocity makes the flow faster and more unstable. Moreover, it tends to reduce the limits of critical non-axisymmetric disturbances. The effect on the stability characteristics can be magnified by increasing the microstructure or couple-stress parameter or the microinertia parameter for the cases of corotating cylinders and a stationary outer cylinder or by decreasing the radius ratio or the microinertia parameter for the case of counterrotating cylinders.


2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (23) ◽  
pp. 3727-3737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jitender Singh ◽  
Renu Bajaj

Effect of an axially applied magnetic field on the stability of a ferrofluid flow in an annular space between two coaxially rotating cylinders with nonaxisymmetric disturbances has been investigated numerically. The critical value of the ratioΩ∗of angular speeds of the two cylinders, at the onset of the first nonaxisymmetric mode of disturbance, has been observed to be affected by the applied magnetic field.


The theory developed in an earlier paper (Chandrasekhar 1953) is extended to allow for counter-rotation of the two cylinders. Explicit results are given for the case when the two cylinders rotate in opposite directions with equal angular velocities.


1966 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Beard ◽  
M. H. Davies ◽  
K. Walters

Consideration is given to the possibility of overstability in the Couette flow of viscous and elastico-viscous liquids. The relevant linear perturbation equations are solved numerically using an initial-value technique. It is shown that over-stability is not possible in the case of Newtonian liquids for the cases considered. In contrast, overstability is to be expected in the case of moderately-elastic Maxwell liquids. The Taylor number associated with the overstable mode decreases steadily as the amount of elasticity in the liquid increases, and it is concluded that highly elastic Maxwell liquids can be very unstable indeed.


1964 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Sparrow ◽  
W. D. Munro ◽  
V. K. Jonsson

An analytical investigation is carried out to determine the conditions for instability in a viscous fluid contained between rotating coaxial cylinders of arbitrary radius ratio. A solution method is outlined and then applied to cylinders having radius ratios ranging from 0·95 to 0·1. Consideration is given to both cases wherein the cylinders are rotating in the same direction and in opposite directions. Results are reported for the Taylor numbers and wave-numbers which mark the onset of instability. The present results are also employed to delineate the range of applicability of the closed-form instability predictions of Taylor and of Meksyn, which were derived for narrow-gap conditions.


1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 258-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Ali

The effect of a radial magnetic field on the stability of an electrically conducting incompressible fluid between two concentric rotating cylinders is considered. The eigenvalue problem for determining the critical Taylor number TC and the corresponding wave number aC is solved numerically for different values of ±μ(= Ω2/Ω1), (where Ω1, and Ω2 are me angular velocities of the inner and outer cylinders, respectively) and for different gap sizes. It is observed that the radial magnetic field stabilizes the flow. This effect is more pronounced for cylinders that are corotating as compared with counter-rotating cylinders or the situation where only the inner one is rotating.


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