The stability of circular Couette flow in discontinuous axisymmetric geometries is investigated using numerical simulations and physical experiments. By contouring the geometry of the inner cylinder, Taylor vortices can be made to appear in discrete sections along the length of the cylinder while adjoining sections remain stable. The disparate flows are connected by transition regions that arise from the stability of the axially nonuniform base flow state. The geometry of the inner cylinder can be tailored to produce the simultaneous onset of Taylor vortices of different wavelength in neighboring sections. In another variant, a stack of inner cylinders of common radius are made to rotate independently to produce adjacent regions of stable and unstable flow.
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