Velocity distributions in Taylor vortex flow with imposed laminar axial flow and isothermal surface heat transfer

Fully-developed flow in a concentric annulus formed by a stationary outer cylinder, which may be heated isothermally, and a rotatable inner cylinder has been studied experimentally by means of hot-wire anemometry techniques. Velocity profiles for the axial, tangential, and radial directions of flow have been obtained for adiabatic conditions and for wide and narrow annular gaps.It has been shown that the onset of Taylor vortex flow has a pronounced effect on the velocity profiles for all three directions. However, while the profiles for the axial and tangential directions are explicable, those for the radial direction are not so, at present. Also, it was found that heat transfer through the outer annular surface had a greater effect on the radial velocity profile than on the axial or tangential, but in the narrow gap case only.