Numerical Investigations of Taylor-Couette Flow Using DNS/SVV Method

In the paper the authors present the results obtained during a numerical investigation (Direct Numerical Simulation/ Spectral Vanishing Viscosity method – DNS/SVV) of a Taylor-Couette flow, i.e. the flow between two concentric disks and two concentric cylinders. The Taylor-Couette flow is one of paradigmatical systems in hydrodynamics, widely used for studying the primary instability, pattern formation, transitional flows and fully turbulent flows. Simultaneously, the flows in rotating cavities appear in numerous machines in the field of mechanics and chemistry, e.g., in cooling systems of gas turbines and axial compressors. In the paper, attention is focused on the laminar-turbulent transition region of the Taylor-Couette flow. The main purpose of the computations is to investigate the influence of different parameters (the aspect ratio, the end-wall boundary conditions, temperature gradient) on the flow structure and on flow characteristics.