Abstract
We perform a detailed numerical study of transient Taylor vortices arising from the instability of cylindrical Couette flow with the exterior cylinder at rest for radius ratio η = 0.5 and variable aspect ratio Γ. The result of Abshagen et al. (J Fluid Mech 476:335–343, 2003) that onset transients apparently evolve on a much smaller time–scale than decay transients is recovered. It is shown to be an artefact of time scale estimations based on the Stuart–Landau amplitude equation which assumes frozen space dependence while full space–time dependence embedded in the Ginzburg–Landau formalism needs to be taken into account to understand transients already at moderate aspect ratio. Sub-critical pattern induction is shown to explain the apparently anomalous behaviour of the system at onset while decay follows the Stuart–Landau prediction more closely. The dependence of time scales on boundary effects is studied for a wide range of aspect ratios, including non-integer ones, showing general agreement with the Ginzburg–Landau picture able to account for solutions modulated by Ekman pumping at the disks bounding the cylinders.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abshagen J., Meincke O., Pfister G., Cliffe K.A., Mullin T.: Transient dynamics at the onset of Taylor vortices. J. Fluid Mech. 476, 335–343 (2003)
Coles D.: Transition in circular Couette flow. J. Fluid Mech. 21, 385–425 (1965)
Andereck C.D., Liu S.S., Swinney H.L.: Flow regimes in a circular Couette flow system with independently rotating cylinders. J. Fluid Mech. 164, 155–183 (1986)
Prigent A., Grégoire G., Chaté H., Dauchot O., van Saarloos W.: Large-scale finite-wavelength modulation within turbulent shear flows. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 014501 (2002)
Chandrasekhar S.: Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability. Clarendon Press, Oxford (1961)
Drazin P.G., Reid W.H.: Hydrodynamic Stability. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1981)
Koschmieder E.L.: Bénard Cells and Taylor Vortices. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1993)
Tagg, R.: The Taylor–Couette problem. Nonlinear Science Today 4, 1–25; a reference list, fairly complete up to 1999, can be found at: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~rtagg/tcrefs/taylorcouette.html (1994)
Stuart J.T.: Nonlinear stability theory. Ann. Rev. Fluid Mech. 43, 347–371 (1971)
Stuart J.T.: On the non-linear mechanics of hydrodynamic stability. J. Fluid Mech. 4, 1–21 (1958)
Kirchgässner K.: Instabilität der Strömung swischen zweil rotierenden Zylindern gegenüber Taylor-Wirbeln für beliebige Spaltbreiten. ZAMP 12, 14–30 (1961)
Davey A.: The growth of Taylor vortices in flows between rotating cylinders. J. Fluid Mech. 14, 336–368 (1962)
Donnelly R.J., Schwarz K.W.: Experiments on the stability of viscous flow between rotating cylinders. VI. Finite amplitude experiments. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 283, 531–556 (1965)
Dominguez-Lerma M.A., Ahlers G., Cannell D.S.: Marginal stability curve and linear growth rate for rotating Couette–Taylor flow and Rayleigh–Bénard convection. Phys. Fluids 27, 856–860 (1984)
Schaeffer D.G.: Qualitative analysis of a model for boundary effects in the Taylor problem. Math. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 87, 307–337 (1980)
Hall P.: Centrifugal instabilities in finite containers: a periodic model. J. Fluid Mech. 99, 575–596 (1980)
Benjamin T.B., Mullin T.: Anomalous modes in the Taylor experiment. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 377, 221–249 (1981)
Rucklidge A.M., Champneys A.R.: Boundary effects and the onset of Taylor vortices. Phys. D 191, 282–296 (2004)
Ahlers G., Cannell D.S.: Vortex front propagation in rotating Couette–Taylor flow. Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 1583–1586 (1983)
Neitzel G.P.: Numerical computation of time dependent Taylor-vortex flow in finite-length geometries. J. Fluid Mech. 141, 51–66 (1984)
Niklas M., Lücke M., Müller-Krumbhaar H.: Velocity of a propagating Taylor-vortex front. Phys. Rev. A 40, 493–496 (1989)
Hall P.: Evolution equation for Taylor vortices in the small gap limit. Phys. Rev. A 29, 2921–2923 (1984)
Manneville, P.: Dissipative structures and weak turbulence. Academic Press, Boston; see especially Chapters 4, 5, 8–10 (1990)
Daniels P.G.: The effect of distant sidewalls on the transition to finite amplitude Bénard convection. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 358, 173–197 (1977)
Hall P., Walton I.C.: The smooth transition to a convective regime in a two-dimensional box. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 358, 199–221 (1977)
Cross M.C., Daniels P.G., Hohenberg P.C., Siggia E.D.: Phase winding solutions in a finite container above the convective threshold. J. Fluid Mech. 127, 155–183 (1983)
Graham R., Domaradzki J.A.: Local amplitude equation of Taylor vortices and its boundary condition. Phys. Rev. A 26, 1572–1579 (1982)
Pfister G., Rehberg I.: Space-dependent order parameter in circular Couette flow transitions. Phys. Lett. A 83, 19–22 (1981)
Zaleski S.: Cellular patterns with boundary forcing. J. Fluid Mech. 149, 101–125 (1984)
Pomeau Y., Manneville P.: Stability and fluctuations of a spatially periodic convective flow. J. Phys. Lett. 40, L609–L612 (1979)
Randriamampianina E., Elena L., Fontaine J.P., Schiestel R.: Numerical prediction of laminar, transitional and turbulent flows in shrouded rotor-stator systems. Phys. Fluids 9, 1696–1713 (1997)
Tavener S.J., Mullin T., Cliffe K.A.: Novel bifurcation phenomena in a rotating annulus. J. Fluid Mech. 229, 483–497 (1991)
Czarny O., Serre E., Bontoux P., Lueptow R.M.: Interaction between Ekman pumping and the centrifugal instability in Taylor–Couette flow. Phys. Fluids 15, 467–477 (2003)
Peyret R.: Spectral methods for incompressible viscous flows. Series: Applied Mathematical Sciences, vol. 148. Springer, New York (2002)
Raspo I., Hugues S., Serre E., Randriamampianina A., Bontoux P.: A spectral projection method for the simulation of complex three-dimensional rotating flows. Comp. Fluids 31, 745–767 (2002)
Jackson L.B.: Digital Filters and Signal Processing—with MatLab Exercises. Kluwer, Dordrecht (1996)
Manneville P., Piquemal J.M.: Zigzag instability and axisymmetric rolls in Rayleigh–Bénard convection, the effects of curvature. Phys. Rev. A 28, 1774–1790 (1983)
Walgraef D.: End effects and phase instabilities in a model for Taylor–Couette systems. Phys. Rev. A 34, 3270–3278 (1986)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by P. Hall
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Manneville, P., Czarny, O. Aspect-ratio dependence of transient Taylor vortices close to threshold. Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn. 23, 15–36 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-009-0093-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-009-0093-x