Study on Non-Uniqueness of Taylor Vortex Flow Changing Inner Cylinder Acceleration Time

Abstract

In concentrically rotating double cylinders consisting of a stationary outer cylinder a rotating inner cylinder, Taylor vortex flow appears. Taylor vortex flow occurs in journal bearings, various fluid machineries, containers for chemical reaction, and other rotating components. Therefore, the analysis of the flow structure of Taylor vortex flow is highly effective for its control. The main parameters that determine the modes of Taylor vortex flow of a finite length are the aspect ratio, Reynolds number Re. Aspect ratio is defined as the ratio of the cylinder length to the gap length between cylinders, and Re is determined on the basis of the angular speed of the inner cylinder. Aspect ratio was set to be 4.0, and Re to be values in the range from 100 to 1000 at intervals of 100. Thus far, a large number of studies on Taylor vortex flow have been carried out; however, the effects of the differences in initial conditions have not yet been sufficiently clarified. In this study, we changed the acceleration time of the inner cylinder in a numerical analysis, and examined the resulting changes in the mode formation and bifurcation processes. The acceleration time was changed from 1.0 s to 10.0 s. As a result, a difference was observed in the final mode depending on the difference in the acceleration time. From this finding, non-uniqueness, which is a major characteristic of Taylor vortex flow, was confirmed. However, no regularities regarding the difference in mode formation were found and the tendency of the mode formation process was not specified. Moreover, the processes of developing the vortex resulting in different final modes were monitored over time by visual observation. Similar flow behaviors were initially observed after the start of the calculation. Then, a bifurcation point, at which the flow changed to a mode depending on the acceleration time observed, and finally the flow became steady. In addition, there was also a difference in the time taken for the well-developed flow to reach the steady state. Both EFD (Experimental Fluid Dynamics) and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) results show good agreement qualitatively.