Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T03:55:35.313Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Separation and the Taylor-column problem for a hemisphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

J. D. A. Walker
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
K. Stewartson
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University College, London

Abstract

A layer of viscous incompressible fluid is confined between two horizontal plates which rotate rapidly in their own plane with a constant angular velocity. A hemisphere has its plane face joined to the lower plate and when a uniform flow is forced past such an obstacle, a Taylor column bounded by thin detached vertical shear layers forms. The linear theory for this problem, wherein the Rossby number ε is set equal to zero on the assumption that the flow is slow, is examined in detail. The nonlinear modifications of the shear layers are then investigated for the case when ε ∼ E½, where E is the Ekman number. In particular, it is shown that provided that the Rossby number is large enough separation occurs in the free shear layers. The extension of the theory to flow past arbitrary spheroids is indicated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1974 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

Barcilon, V. 1970 Some inertial modifications of the linear viscous theory of steady rotating fluid flows Phys. Fluids, 13, 537544.Google Scholar
Buckmaster, J. 1969 Separation and magnetohydrodynamics J. Fluid Mech. 38, 481498.Google Scholar
Buckmaster, J. 1971 Boundary layer structure at a magnetohydrodynamic rear stagnation point Quart. J. Mech. Appl. Math. 24, 373386.Google Scholar
Foster, M. R. 1972 The flow caused by the differential rotation of a right circular cylindrical depression in one of two rapidly rotating parallel planes J. Fluid Mech. 53, 647655.Google Scholar
Grace, S. F. 1926 On the motion of a sphere in a rotating liquid. Proc. Roy. Soc A 113, 4677.Google Scholar
Greenspan, H. 1968 The Theory of Rotating Fluids. Cambridge University Press.
Hide, R. & Ibbetson, A. 1966 An experimental study of ‘Taylor’ columns. Icarus, 5, 279290.Google Scholar
Hide, R., Ibbetson, A. & Lighthill, M. J. 1968 On slow transverse flow past obstacles in a rapidly rotating fluid J. Fluid Mech. 32, 251272.Google Scholar
Jacobs, S. J. 1964 The Taylor column problem J. Fluid Mech. 20, 581591.Google Scholar
Leibovich, S. 1967 Magnetohydrodynamic flow at a rear stagnation point J. Fluid Mech. 29, 401413.Google Scholar
Moore, D. W. & Saffman, P. G. 1969a The structure of free vertical shear layers in a rotating fluid and the motion produced by a slowly rising body. Phil. Trans A 264, 597634.Google Scholar
Moore, D. W. & Saffman, P. G. 1969b The flow induced by the transverse motion of a thin disk in its own plane through a contained rapidly rotating fluid J. Fluid Mech. 39, 831847.Google Scholar
Proudman, I. & Johnson, K. 1962 Boundary-layer growth near a rear stagnation point J. Fluid Mech. 12, 161168.Google Scholar
Stewartson, K. 1953 On the slow motion of an ellipsoid in a rotating fluid Quart. J. Mech. 7, 141162.Google Scholar
Stewartson, K. 1966 On almost rigid rotations. Part 2 J. Fluid Mech. 26, 131144.Google Scholar
Stewartson, K. 1967 On the slow transverse motion of a sphere through a rotating fluid J. Fluid Mech. 30, 357369.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1922 The motion of a sphere in a rotating liquid. Proc. Roy. Soc A 102, 180189.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1923 Experiments on the motion of solid bodies in rotating fluids. Proc. Roy. Soc A 104, 213218.Google Scholar
Walker, J. D. A. & Stewartson, K. 1972 The flow past a circular cylinder in a rotating frame Z. angew. Math. Phys. 23, 745752.Google Scholar