Numerical and experimental study on the flow history effects of axial flow on the Couette–Taylor flow
Résumé
In this research, experimental and numerical techniques are used to study the flow history effects of axial flow on the Couette–Taylor flow. For the experimental investigation, the flow is visualized using the PIV technique with reflective particles with a density of 1.62 g/cm3. Dispersed in a solution, the particles have a strong refraction index equal to 1.85. In this study, two protocols are adopted to study the effect of an axial flow superimposed on a Couette–Taylor flow, and of the history of the flow. The first one, the direct protocol, consists of imposing an azimuthal flow to the inner cylinder. In this case, when the regime is established, the axial flow is superimposed. The second protocol, the inverse protocol, consists of imposing first the axial flow in the gap of the system, after which an azimuthal flow is conveyed. The Couette–Taylor flow with axial flow is strongly dependent on the flow history (the protocol). Thus, the flow structures and development for different protocols are studied and analyzed here experimentally and numerically. In addition, from the numerical results, mathematical models for the two protocols are presented. For the direct protocol, a new relation between the axial Reynolds number, which stabilizes the Couette–Taylor flow, and the Taylor number is presented; for the inverse protocol, a new mathematical model for the critical Taylor number is developed as a function of the axial Reynolds number and also the first critical Taylor number without axial flow.