Numerical Analysis of Critical Reynolds Number of Wavy Taylor Vortex Flow with Changing Aspect Ratio

Abstract

The Taylor vortex flow is one of the main vortex flows that has been studied since G. I. Taylor's landmark research of it in 1923. The flow condition between the inner and outer cylinders of a spinning coaxial cylinder changes from Couette flow to Taylor vortex flow and then to wavy Taylor vortex flow as the Reynolds number rises. This work has calculated the critical Reynolds number at which the flow changes from a Taylor vortex to a wavy Taylor vortex flow. Through the use of the attractor in the chaos theory and numerical analysis, this critical Reynolds number has been determined. The visualization experiment's findings at small aspect ratios closely match each flow's crucial Reynolds number calculations.