DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2015.THMT-15
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-427-4
ISBN CD: 978-1-56700-428-8
Turbulence control in the Taylor-Couette flow system
ABSTRACT
The hydrodynamic stability of a viscous fluid flow in an annular space between a rotating inner cylinder and an outer fixed one is considered. The basic flow is axis-symmetric with two counter-rotating vortices each wavelength. Experiments are carried out together with numerical computations implemented using a finite-volume CFD code to simulate the flow under cross-sectional pulsatile solicitations. The controlling strategy consists in superimposing a radial pulsatile motion to the inner cylinder cross-section. It is aimed to tackle the transition process and to assess qualitative and quantitative effects of such a managing technique. As a result, transition to turbulence is substantially delayed with modulation of the inner cylinder cross-section. Turbulence state of the flow is thus postponed to largely higher values of the critical Taylor number.