An outline of the state space of planar Couette flow at high Reynolds numbers ($Re < 10^5$) is investigated via a variety of efficient numerical techniques. It is verified from nonlinear analysis that the lower branch of {\it Hairpin Vortex State} (HVS) asymptotically approaches the primary (laminar) state with increasing $Re$. It is also predicted that the lower branch of HVS at high $Re$ belongs to the stability boundary that initiates transition to turbulence, and that one of the unstable manifolds of the lower branch of HVS lies on the boundary. These facts suggest HVS may provide a criterion to estimate a minimum perturbation arising transition to turbulent states at the infinite $Re$ limit.
The normal-mode analysis of the Reynolds-Orr energy equation governing the stability of viscous motion for general three-dimensional disturbances has been revisited. The energy equation has been solved as an unconstrained minimization problem for the Couette-Poiseuille flow. The minimum Reynolds number for every Couette-Poiseuille velocity profile has been computed and compared with those available in the literature. For fully three-dimensional disturbances, it is shown that the minimum Reynolds number is in general smaller than the corresponding two-dimensional counterpart for all the Couette…
Taylor-Couette flow -- the flow between two coaxial co- or counter-rotating cylinders -- is one of the paradigmatic systems in physics of fluids. The (dimensionless) control parameters are the Reynolds numbers of the inner and outer cylinder, the ratio of the cylinder radii, and the aspect ratio. The response of the system is the torque required to retain constant angular velocities, which can be connected to the angular velocity transport through the gap. While the low Reynolds number regime has been very well explored in the '80s and '90s of the last century, in the fully turbulent regime ma…
This article aims to make a detailed analysis of co-flowing plane Couette flows. Particularly, the variation of flow quantities from the turbulent to non-turbulent region is studied. While the enstrophy exhibits a sharp jump, the other quantities (e.g., mean velocity, Reynolds normal stress, and kinetic energy) show a continuous variation across the interface. The budget analysis of Reynolds normal stresses reveals that the terms playing a key role in turbulence transportation vary depending on the Reynolds normal stress under study. The terms production, diffusion, and redistribution play an …
This study numerically investigates the bifurcation aspect of the wide-gap spherical Couette flow (SCF), with an emphasis on the competition among polygonal coherence with different wave numbers observed over transitional Reynolds numbers. Focusing on a representative case, the half-radius ratio, we confirm that the axisymmetric state becomes unstable over the first transitional Reynolds number at which the 4-fold spiral state bifurcates, using the continuation method based on the Newton-Raphson algorithm. The Galerkin-spectral method was employed to numerically solve the governing equations. …
We demonstrate that a separation of the velocity field in large and small scales according to a streamwise Fourier decomposition identifies subspaces with stable Lyapunov exponents and allows the dynamics to exhibit properties of an inertial manifold, such as the synchronization of the small scales in simulations sharing the same large scales or equivalently the decay of all small scale flow states to the state uniquely determined from the large scale flow. This behaviour occurs for deviations with streamwise wavelength smaller than 130 wall units which was shown in earlier studies to correspo…
Shearing and rotational forces in fluids can significantly alter the transport of momentum.A numerical investigation was undertaken to study the role of these forces using plane Couette flow subject to rotation about an axis perpendicular to both wall-normal and streamwise directions. Using a set of progressively higher Reynolds numbers up to Re = 5200, we find that the torque for a given Re is a non-monotonic function of rotation number, Ro. For low-to-moderate turbulent Reynolds numbers we find a maximum that is associated with flow fields that are dominated by downstream vortices and calcul…
Heat and mass transport is generally closely correlated to momentum transport in shear flows. This so-called Reynolds analogy between advective heat or mass transport and momentum transport hinders efficiency improvements in engineering heat and mass transfer applications. I show through direct numerical simulations that in plane Couette and Taylor-Couette flow rotation can strongly influence wall-to-wall passive tracer transport and make it much faster than momentum transport, clearly in violation of the Reynolds analogy. This difference between passive tracer transport, representative of hea…
According to a recent theory \cite{Li14}, when the Reynolds number is large, fully developed turbulence is caused by short term unpredictability (rough dependence upon initial data); when the Reynolds number is moderate, often transient turbulence is caused by chaos (long term unpredictability). This article aims at studying chaos in plane Couette flow at moderate Reynolds number. Based upon the work of L. van Veen and G. Kawahara \cite{VK11} on a transversal homoclinic orbit asymptotic to a limit cycle in plane Couette flow, we explore symbolic dynamics and chaos near the homoclinic orbit. Ma…
In view of new experimental data the instability against adiabatic nonaxisymmetric perturbations of a Taylor-Couette flow with an axial density stratification is considered in dependence of the Reynolds number Re of rotation and the Brunt-Väisälä number Rn of the stratification. The flows at and beyond the Rayleigh limit become unstable between a lower and an upper Reynolds number (for fixed Rn). The rotation can thus be too slow or too fast for the stratorotational instability. The upper Reynolds number above which the instability decays, has its maximum value for the potential flow (driven b…
Equilibrium, traveling wave, and periodic orbit solutions of pipe, channel, and plane Couette flows can now be computed precisely at Reynolds numbers above the onset of turbulence. These invariant solutions capture the complex dynamics of wall-bounded rolls and streaks and provide a framework for understanding low-Reynolds turbulent shear flows as dynamical systems. We present fluid dynamics videos of plane Couette flow illustrating periodic orbits, a close pass of turbulent flow to a periodic orbit, and heteroclinic connections between unstable equilibria.
We study the decay of high-Reynolds number Taylor-Couette turbulence, i.e. the turbulent flow between two coaxial rotating cylinders. To do so, the rotation of the inner cylinder (Re$_i=2 \times 10^6$, the outer cylinder is at rest) is stopped within 12 s, thus fully removing the energy input to the system. Using a combination of laser Doppler anemometry and particle image velocimetry measurements, six decay decades of the kinetic energy could be captured. First, in the absence of cylinder rotation, the flow-velocity during the decay does not develop any height dependence in contrast to the we…
We numerically compute the flow of an electrically conducting fluid in a Taylor-Couette geometry where the rotation rates of the inner and outer cylinders satisfy $Ω_o/Ω_i=(r_o/r_i)^{-3/2}$. In this quasi-Keplerian regime a non-magnetic system would be Rayleigh-stable for all Reynolds numbers $Re$, and the resulting purely azimuthal flow incapable of kinematic dynamo action for all magnetic Reynolds numbers $Rm$. For $Re=10^4$ and $Rm=10^5$ we demonstrate the existence of a finite-amplitude dynamo, whereby a suitable initial condition yields mutually sustaining turbulence and magnetic fields, …
Emulsions are omnipresent in the food industry, health care, and chemical synthesis. In this Letter the dynamics of meta-stable oil-water emulsions in highly turbulent ($10^{11}\leq\text{Ta}\leq 3\times 10^{13}$) Taylor--Couette flow, far from equilibrium, is investigated. By varying the oil-in-water void fraction, catastrophic phase inversion between oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions can be triggered, changing the morphology, including droplet sizes, and rheological properties of the mixture, dramatically. The manifestation of these different states is exemplified by combining global to…
We experimentally and numerically investigate the temporal aspects of turbulent spots spreading in a plane Couette flow for transitional Reynolds numbers between 300 and 450. Spot growth rate, spot advection rate and large-scale flow intensity are measured as a function of time and Reynolds number. All these quantities show similar dynamics clarifying the role played by large-scale flows in the advection of the turbulent spot. The contributions of each possible growth mechanism: growth induced by large scale advection or growth by destabilization, are discussed for the different stages of the …
Explanation of constant mean angular momentum in high-Reynolds-number Taylor--Couette turbulence in terms of history effects
Department of Physics & Research and Education Center for Natural Sciences, Hiyoshi Campus, Keio University（庆应义塾大学日吉校区物理系及自然科学研究教育中心）；Department of Mechanical Engineering, Doshisha University（立命馆大学机械工程系）；Laboratory of Complex Flows, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kindai University（近畿大学理工学部复杂流动实验室）
Unsteady spatially localized states such as puffs, slugs or spots play an important role in transition to turbulence. In plane Couette flow, steady versions of these states are found on two intertwined solution branches describing homoclinic snaking (Schneider $\textit{et al.}$ 2010a). These branches can be used to generate a number of spatially localized initial conditions whose transition can be investigated. From the low Reynolds numbers where homoclinic snaking is first observed ($Re < 175$) to transitional ones ($Re \approx 325$), these spatially localized states traverse various regimes …
We show possibility of the Plane Couette (PC) flow instability for Reynolds number Re>Reth=140. This new result of the linear hydrodynamic stability theory is obtained on the base of refusal from the traditionally used assumption on longitudinal periodicity of the disturbances along the direction of the fluid flow. We found that earlier existing understanding on the linear stability of this flow for any arbitrary large Reynolds number is directly related with an assumption on the separation of the variables of the spatial variability for the disturbance field and their periodicity in linear th…
A turbulent-laminar banded pattern in plane Couette flow is studied numerically. This pattern is statistically steady, is oriented obliquely to the streamwise direction, and has a very large wavelength relative to the gap. The mean flow, averaged in time and in the homogeneous direction, is analysed. The flow in the quasi-laminar region is not the linear Couette profile, but results from a non-trivial balance between advection and diffusion. This force balance yields a first approximation to the relationship between the Reynolds number, angle, and wavelength of the pattern. Remarkably, the var…
We experimentally study the turbulent flow between two coaxial and independently rotating cylinders. We determined the scaling of the torque with Reynolds numbers at various angular velocity ratios (Rotation numbers), and the behaviour of the wall shear stress when varying the Rotation number at high Reynolds numbers. We compare the curves with PIV analysis of the mean flow and show the peculiar role of perfect counterrotation for the emergence of organised large scale structures in the mean part of this very turbulent flow that appear in a smooth and continuous way: the transition resembles a…
The transition to turbulence in plane Couette flow and several other shear flows is connected with saddle node bifurcations in which fully 3-d, nonlinear solutions, so-called exact coherent states (ECS), to the Navier-Stokes equation appear. As the Reynolds number increases, the states undergo secondary bifurcations and their time-evolution becomes increasingly more complex. Their spatial complexity, in contrast, remains limited so that these states cannot contribute to the spatial complexity and cascade to smaller scales expected for higher Reynolds numbers. We here present families of scalin…
Numerical solvers of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations have reproduced turbulence phenomena such as the law of the wall, the dependence of turbulence intensities on the Reynolds number, and experimentally observed properties of turbulence energy production. In this article, we begin a sequence of investigations whose eventual aim is to derive and implement numerical solvers that can reach higher Reynolds numbers than is currently possible. Every time step of a Navier-Stokes solver in effect solves a linear boundary value problem. The use of Green's functions leads to numerical solvers…
The interaction between small- and large-scale structures, and the coexisting bottom-up and top-down processes are studied in a turbulent plane Couette flow, where space-filling longitudinal rolls appear at relatively low values of the Reynolds number $Re$. A DNS database at $Re_τ=101$ is built to replicate the highest $Re$ considered in a recent experimental work by Kawata and Alfredsson (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol.120, 2018, 244501). Our study is based on the exact budget equations for the second-order structure function tensor $\langle δu_i δu_j \rangle$, i.e. the Anisotropic Generalized Kolmogo…
We present an equilibrium solution of plane Couette flow that is exponentially localized in both the spanwise and streamwise directions. The solution is similar in size and structure to previously computed turbulent spots and localized, chaotically wandering edge states of plane Couette flow. A linear analysis of dominant terms in the Navier-Stokes equations shows how the exponential decay rate and the wall-normal overhang profile of the streamwise tails are governed by the Reynolds number and the dominant spanwise wavenumber. Perturbations of the solution along its leading eigenfunctions caus…
Recent studies have brought into question the view that at sufficiently high Reynolds number turbulence is an asymptotic state. We present the first direct observation of the decay of turbulent states in Taylor-Couette flow with lifetimes spanning five orders of magnitude. We also show that there is a regime where Taylor-Couette flow shares many of the decay characteristics observed in other shear flows, including Poisson statistics and the coexistence of laminar and turbulent patches. Our data suggest that characteristic decay times increase super-exponentially with increasing Reynolds number…
We numerically investigate Taylor-Couette flow in a wide-gap configuration, with $r_i/r_o=1/2$, the inner cylinder rotating, and the outer cylinder stationary. The fluid is taken to be electrically conducting, and a magnetic field of the form $B_z\approx(1 + \cos(2πz/z_0))/2$ is externally imposed, where the wavelength $z_0=50(r_o-r_i)$. Taylor vortices form where the field is weak, but not where it is strong. As the Reynolds number measuring the rotation rate is increased, the initial onset of vortices involves phase slip events, whereby pairs of Taylor vortices are periodically formed and th…
We study the size of large-scale motions in turbulent plane Couette flows at moderate Reynolds number up to $Re_τ$ = 500. Direct numerical simulation domains were as large as $100πδ\times2δ\times5πδ$, where $δ$ is half the distance between the walls. The results indicate that there are structures with streamwise extent, as measured by the wavelength, as long as 78$δ$ and at least 310$δ$ at $Re_τ$ = 220 and 500, respectively. The presence of these very long structures is apparent in the spectra of all three velocity components and the Reynolds stress. In DNS using a smaller domain, the large st…
We perform direct numerical simulations of rotating turbulent Waleffe flow, the flow between two parallel plates with a sinusoidal streamwise shear driving force, to study the formation of large-scale structures and the mechanisms for momentum transport. We simulate different cyclonic and anti-cyclonic rotations in the range of dimensionless rotation numbers (inverse Rossby numbers) $R_Ω$ $\in$ $[-0.16, 2.21]$, and fix the Reynolds number to $Re=3.16\times 10^3$, large enough such that the shear transport is almost entirely due to Reynolds stresses and viscous transport is negligible. We find …
The flow structure of strongly turbulent Taylor-Couette flow with Reynolds numbers up to Re_i = 2*10^6 of the inner cylinder is experimentally examined with high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV). The wind Reynolds numbers Re_w of the turbulent Taylor-vortex flow is found to scale as Re_w ~ Ta^(1/2), exactly as predicted for the ultimate turbulence regime, in which the boundary layers are turbulent. The dimensionless angular velocity flux has an effective scaling of Nu_ω ~ Ta^0.38, also in correspondence with turbulence in the ultimate regime. The scaling of Nu_ω is confirmed by local ang…
We study liquid-liquid dispersions in a turbulent Taylor-Couette flow, produced between two counterrotating coaxial cylinders. In pure Water and in counterrotation, Reynolds numbers up to 1.4 10^5 are reached. The liquids we use are a low-viscous Oil and pure Water or a Sodium Iodide solution with a refractive index matched to that of Oil, in order to get transparent dispersions. We first characterize the single-phase flow, in terms of threshold for transition to turbulence, scaling of the torque and measurements of the mean flow and of the Reynolds stress by stereoscopic PIV. We then study th…
Data-driven low-dimensional model for the onset of turbulence in plane Couette flow
Graduate School of Engineering Science, the University of Osaka（大阪大学工学研究科）；Fluids Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of the Philippines Diliman（菲律宾大学迪利曼分校机械工程系流体实验室）
Recent progress indicates that highly symmetric recurring solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations, such as equilibria and periodic orbits, provide a skeleton for turbulence dynamics in state-space. Many of these solutions have been found for flat-walled plane Couette, channel, and pipe flows. Rough-walled flows are of great practical significance, yet no recurring solutions are known for these flows. We present a numerical homotopy method to continue solutions from flat-walled plane Couette flow (PCF) to grooved PCF, demonstrated here at a Reynolds number of 400, to act as a starting point fo…
Its is a well known fact that Turbulence exhibits non-locality, however, modeling has largely received local treatment following the work of Prandl over mixing-length model. Thus, in this article we report our findings by formulating a non-local closure model for Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation using Fractional Calculus. Two model formulations are studied, namely one- and two-sided for Channel, Pipe and Couette flow, where the results shown have less 1% error. The motivation of two-sided model lies in recognising the fact that non-locality at a given spatial location is an aggr…
We numerically simulate turbulent Taylor-Couette flow for independently rotating inner and outer cylinders, focusing on the analogy with turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard flow. Reynolds numbers of $Re_i=8\cdot10^3$ and $Re_o=\pm4\cdot10^3$ of the inner and outer cylinders, respectively, are reached, corresponding to Taylor numbers Ta up to $10^8$. Effective scaling laws for the torque and other system responses are found. Recent experiments with the Twente turbulent Taylor-Couette ($T^3C$) setup and with a similar facility in Maryland at very high Reynolds numbers have revealed an optimum transport at…
In a plane Couette cell a thin fluid layer consisting of water is sheared between a transparent band at Reynolds numbers ranging from 300 to 1400. The length of the cells flow channel is large compared to the film separation. To extract the flow velocity in the experiments a correlation image velocimetry (CIV) method is used on pictures recorded with a high speed camera. The flow is recorded at a resolution that allows to analyze flow patterns similar in size to the film separation. The fluid flow is then studied by calculating flow velocity autocorrelation functions. The turbulent pattern tha…
Taylor--Couette (TC) flow is the shear-driven flow between two coaxial independently rotating cylinders. In recent years, high-fidelity simulations and experiments revealed the shape of the streamwise and angular velocity profiles up to very high Reynolds numbers. However, due to curvature effects, so far no theory has been able to correctly describe the turbulent streamwise velocity profile for given radius ratio, as the classical Prandtl--von Kármán logarithmic law for turbulent boundary layers over a flat surface at most fits in a limited spatial region. Here we address this deficiency by a…
We generalize an analogy between rotating and stratified shear flows. This analogy is summarized in Table 1. We use this analogy in the unstable case (centrifugally unstable flow v.s. convection) to compute the torque in Taylor-Couette configuration, as a function of the Reynolds number. At low Reynolds numbers, when most of the dissipation comes from the mean flow, we predict that the non-dimensional torque $G=T/ν^2L$, where $L$ is the cylinder length, scales with Reynolds number $R$ and gap width $η$, $G=1.46 η^{3/2} (1-η)^{-7/4}R^{3/2}$. At larger Reynolds number, velocity fluctuations beco…
We study the nonlinear stability of plane Couette and Poiseuille flows with the Lyapunov second method by using the classical L2-energy. We prove that the streamwise perturbations are L2-energy stable for any Reynolds number. This contradicts the results of Joseph [10], Joseph and Carmi [12] and Busse [4], and allows us to prove that the critical nonlinear Reynolds numbers are obtained along two-dimensional perturbations, the spanwise perturbations, as Orr [16] had supposed. This conclusion combined with recent results by Falsaperla et al. [8] on the stability with respect to tilted rolls, pro…
A counter-rotating Taylor-Couette flow with relatively small radius ratios of $η$ = 0.2--0.5 was investigated over a wide range of the Reynolds number, from laminar to turbulent regime, by means of three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. We investigated the $η$ dependence of the flow structure and determined a critical value between $η$ = 0.2 and 0.3, below which, the stable outer cylinder side exhibited a modal structure that was different from the Taylor-vortex flow on the inner side. At $η\geq$ 0.3, the Taylor-vortex on the unstable inner side dominated the entire flow field between…
This article presents direct numerical simulations of the growth of turbulent spots in the transitional regime of plane Couette flow. A quantitative description of the growth process and of the detail of the quadrupolar flow around the spot is given. Focus is put on formation of spanwise vorticity in the velocity streaks that resembles a secondary shear instability. The main features of the instability (coherence lengths, advection velocity) are studied in the context of the turbulent spot, below and above the threshold Reynolds number of appearance of the oblique turbulent bands of plane Coue…
Direct numerical simulations of the Taylor-Couette (TC) problem, the flow between two coaxial and independently rotating cylinders, have been performed. The study focuses on TC flow with mild curvature (small gap) with a radius ratio of $η=r_i/r_o=0.909$, an aspect ratio of $Γ=L/d=2π/3$, and a stationary outer cylinder. Three inner cylinder Reynolds of $1\cdot10^5$, $2\cdot10^5$ and $3\cdot 10^5$ were simulated, corresponding to frictional Reynolds numbers between $Re_τ\approx 1400$ and $Re_τ\approx 4000$. An additional case with a large gap, $η=0.5$ and driving of $Re=2\cdot10^5$ was also per…
We study the inertial migration of a torque-free neutrally buoyant sphere in wall-bounded plane Couette flow over a wide range of channel Reynolds numbers, $Re_c$, in the limit of small particle Reynolds number\,($Re_p\ll1$) and confinement ratio\,($λ\ll1$). Here, $Re_c = V_\text{wall}H/ν$ where $H$ denotes the separation between the channel walls, $V_\text{wall}$ denotes the speed of the moving wall, and $ν$ is the kinematic viscosity of the Newtonian suspending fluid; $λ= a/H$, $a$ being the sphere radius, with $Re_p=λ^2 Re_c$. The channel centerline is found to be the only (stable)\,equilib…
Two-phase turbulent Taylor-Couette (TC) flow is simulated using an Euler-Lagrange approach to study the effects of a secondary phase dispersed into a turbulent carrier phase (here bubbles dispersed into water). The dynamics of the carrier phase is computed using Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) in an Eulerian framework, while the bubbles are tracked in a Lagrangian manner by modelling the effective drag, lift, added mass and buoyancy force acting on them. Two-way coupling is implemented between the dispersed phase and the carrier phase which allows for momentum exchange among both phases and…
We study the stability of cylindrical Taylor-Couette flow in the presence of azimuthal magnetic fields, and show that one obtains non-axisymmetric magnetorotational instabilities, having azimuthal wavenumber m=1. For Omega_o/Omega_i only slightly greater than the Rayleigh value (r_i/r_o)^2, the critical Reynolds and Hartmann numbers are Re_c ~ 10^3 and Ha_c ~ 10^2, independent of the magnetic Prandtl number Pm. These values are sufficiently small that it should be possible to obtain these instabilities in the PROMISE experimental facility.
A new turbulent Taylor-Couette system consisting of two independently rotating cylinders has been constructed. The gap between the cylinders has a height of 0.927 m, an inner radius of 0.200 m, and a variable outer radius (from 0.279 to 0.220 m). The maximum angular rotation rates of the inner and outer cylinder are 20 and 10 Hz, respectively, resulting in Reynolds numbers up to 3.4 x 10^6 with water as working fluid. With this Taylor-Couette system, the parameter space (Re_i, Re_o, η) extends to (2.0 x 10^6, {\pm}1.4 x 10^6, 0.716-0.909). The system is equipped with bubble injectors, temperat…
We present a new lattice kinetic method to simulate fluid dynamics in curvilinear geometries. A suitable discrete Boltzmann equation is solved in contravariant coordinates, and the equilibrium distribution function is obtained by a Hermite polynomials expansion of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, expressed in terms of the contravariant coordinates and the metric tensor. To validate the model, we calculate the critical Reynolds number for the onset of the Taylor-Couette instability between two concentric cylinders, obtaining excellent agreement with the theory. In order to extend this study …
We present measurements of quasi-Keplerian flows in a Taylor-Couette device that identify the boundary conditions required to generate near-ideal flows that exhibit self-similarity under scaling of the Reynolds number. These experiments are contrasted with alternate boundary configurations that result in flows that progressively deviate from ideal Couette rotation as the Reynolds number is increased. These behaviors are quantitatively explained in terms of the tendency to generate global Ekman circulation and the balance of angular momentum fluxes through the axial and radial boundary layers.
We study heat transfer in plane Couette flow laden with rigid spherical particles by means of direct numerical simulations using a direct-forcing immersed boundary method to account for the dispersed phase. A volume of fluid approach is employed to solve the temperature field inside and outside of the particles. We focus on the variation of the heat transfer with the particle Reynolds number, total volume fraction (number of particles) and the ratio between the particle and fluid thermal diffusivity, quantified in terms of an effective suspension diffusivity. We show that, when inertia at the …
In this paper we present axisymmetric nonlinear simulations of magnetized Ekman and Stewartson layers in a magnetized Taylor-Couette flow with a centrifugally stable angular-momemtum profile and with a magnetic Reynolds number below the threshold of magnetorotational instability. The magnetic field is found to inhibit the Ekman suction. The width of the Ekman layer is reduced with increased magnetic field normal to the end plate. A uniformly-rotating region forms near the outer cylinder. A strong magnetic field leads to a steady Stewartson layer emanating from the junction between differential…
Here we report some interesting new features of the spatio-temporal instability of the incompressible plane Couette-Poiseuille flow (CPF). First of all, this flow represents the first instance of a "non-inflectional" absolute instability, within constant-viscosity formulation, which is triggered when one of the plates moves opposite to the bulk motion. More strikingly, with further increase in the negative plate motion, the absolute instability ($\textrm{AI}$) transitions to an "upstream" convective instability ($\textrm{CI}^-$), wherein an unstable wave packet moves opposite to the direction …
Marginal stability arguments are used to describe the rotation-number dependence of torque in Taylor-Couette (TC) flow for radius ratios $η\geq 0.9$ and shear Reynolds number $Re_S=2\times 10^4$. With an approximate representation of the mean profile by piecewise linear functions, characterized by the boundary-layer thicknesses at the inner and outer cylinder and the angular momentum in the center, profiles and torques are extracted from the requirement that the boundary layers represent marginally stable TC subsystems and that the torque at the inner and outer cylinder coincide. This model th…
We investigate the quasi two-dimensional Taylor-Couette system in the regime where the radius ratio is close to unity - a transitional regime between three and two dimensions. By systematically increasing the Reynolds number we observe a number of standard transitions, such as one from the classical Taylor vortex flow (TVF) to wavy vortex flow (WVF), as well as the transition to fully developed turbulence. Prior to the onset of turbulence we observe intermittent burst patterns of localized turbulent patches, confirming the experimentally observed pattern of very short wavelength bursts (VSWBs)…
