Direct Numerical Simulation of turbulent Taylor-Couette flow

TL;DR

This paper presents the first direct numerical simulation of fully turbulent Taylor-Couette flow, providing detailed statistical data and insights into curvature effects on turbulence compared to planar flows.

Contribution

It extends previous numerical methods to simulate turbulent Taylor-Couette flow and offers new statistical analysis comparing it to planar turbulence.

Findings

Curvature induces large-scale rotating structures in the flow.

Flow statistics differ significantly from planar turbulence due to curvature effects.

The simulation results align with experimental data for turbulent regimes.

Abstract

The direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the Taylor--Couette flow in the fully turbulent regime is described. The numerical method extends the work by Quadrio & Luchini (Eur. J. Mech. B / Fluids, v.21, pp.413--427, 2002), and is based on a parallel computer code which uses mixed spatial discretization (spectral schemes in the homogeneous directions, and fourth-order, compact explicit finite-difference schemes in the radial direction). A DNS is carried out to simulate for the first time the turbulent Taylor--Couette flow in the turbulent regime. Statistical quantities are computed to complement the existing experimental information, with a view to compare it to planar, pressure-driven turbulent flow at the same value of the Reynolds number. The main source for differences in flow statistics between plane and curved-wall flows is attributed to the presence of large-scale rotating structures generated by curvature effects.