Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T06:54:54.193Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Stability of time-dependent rotational Couette flow. Part 1. Experimental investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

R. P. Kirchner
Affiliation:
Mechanical Engineering Department, Newark College of Engineering
C. F. Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers University

Abstract

The stability of viscous time-dependent rotational Couette flow, induced by an impulsively started inner cylinder was experimentally investigated. The ratio of the radius of the inner cylinder to that of the outer cylinder was $\frac{1}{10}$. The space between the cylinders was filled with distilled water. The time-dependent instabilities were observed by means of dye injection. They appeared as a series of disks more or less evenly spaced along the inner cylinder. The spacing and growth of these instabilities were recorded using a motion picture camera. From the motion pictures the critical time (which is the time from the impulsive start to the first onset of instability) and spacing of the instabilities were experimentally determined, and a marginal stability curve (Reynolds number versus critical time) was constructed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1970 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Chen, C. F. & Christensen, D. K. 1967 Stability of flow induced by an impulsively started rotating cylinder. Phys. Fluids, 10, 1845.Google Scholar
Christensen, D. K. 1966 The stability of non-steady rotational fluid flow. M.S. Thesis, Dept. of Mech. and Aero. Engr., Rutgers University (TR 111-ME-F).
Donnelly, R. J. 1964 Experiments on the stability of viscous flow between rotating cylinders. III. Enhancement of stability by modulation. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 281, 130.Google Scholar
Kirchner, R. P. 1968 The stability of viscous time-dependent flow between concentric rotating cylinders with a wide gap. Ph.D. Thesis, Dept. of Mech. and Aero. Engr., Rutgers University (TR 121-MAE-F).
Taylor, G. I. 1923 Stability of a viscous liquid contained between two rotating cylinders. Phil. Trans. A 223, 289.Google Scholar
Walowit, J., Tsao, S. & DiPrima, R. C. 1964 Stability of flow between arbitrarily spaced concentric surfaces including the effect of a radial temperature gradient. J. Appl. Mech. 31, 585.Google Scholar