Influence of global rotation and Reynolds number on the large-scale features of a turbulent Taylor-Couette flow

Florent Ravelet (1, 2, 3) , Rene Delfos (1) , Jerry Westerweel (1)

1 AHD - Laboratory for Aero and Hydrodynamics
2 LEMFI - Laboratoire d'énergétique et de mécanique des fluides interne
3 DynFluid - Laboratoire de Dynamique des Fluides

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 supercritical bifurcation of the secondary mean flow.

Domaines: Dynamique des Fluides [physics.flu-dyn]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Florent Ravelet, Rene Delfos, Jerry Westerweel. Influence of global rotation and Reynolds number on the large-scale features of a turbulent Taylor-Couette flow. Physics of Fluids, 2010, 22, pp.055103. ⟨10.1063/1.3392773⟩. ⟨hal-00198644v3⟩