Momentum transport and torque scaling in Taylor-Couette flow from an analogy with turbulent convection

TL;DR

This paper develops a generalized analogy between rotating and stratified shear flows to predict torque scaling in Taylor-Couette flow, incorporating effects of Reynolds number and velocity fluctuations, with results validated against experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analogy-based model for torque and fluctuation scaling in Taylor-Couette flow, extending understanding across different flow regimes.

Findings

Torque scales as R^{3/2} at low Reynolds numbers.

Logarithmic corrections modify the R^{2} scaling at higher Reynolds numbers.

Model predictions agree well with experimental measurements.

Abstract

We generalize an analogy between rotating and stratified shear flows. This analogy is summarized in Table 1. We use this analogy in the unstable case (centrifugally unstable flow v.s. convection) to compute the torque in Taylor-Couette configuration, as a function of the Reynolds number. At low Reynolds numbers, when most of the dissipation comes from the mean flow, we predict that the non-dimensional torque $G=T/\nu^2L$, where $L$ is the cylinder length, scales with Reynolds number $R$ and gap width $\eta$, $G=1.46 \eta^{3/2} (1-\eta)^{-7/4}R^{3/2}$. At larger Reynolds number, velocity fluctuations become non-negligible in the dissipation. In these regimes, there is no exact power law dependence the torque versus Reynolds. Instead, we obtain logarithmic corrections to the classical ultra-hard (exponent 2) regimes: $$ G=0.50\frac{\eta^{2}}{(1-\eta)^{3/2}}\frac{R^{2}}{\ln[\eta^2(1-\eta)R^ 2/10^4]^{3/2}}.$$ These predictions are found to be in excellent agreement with available experimental data. Predictions for scaling of velocity fluctuations are also provided.