Bifurcation and transition to turbulence in the gap between rotating and stationary parallel disks

The flow in the gap between rotating and stationary parallel disks is an attractive object for studying the transition characteristics in three-dimensional internal flows. Firstly, in this case a large region of the basic motion is satisfactorily described by a self-similar solution to the Navier-Stokes equations 1]; secondly, as the parameter = h²/v ( is the. angular velocity of rotation of one of the disks and h is the gap width) varies, there is an evolution of the basic motion, so that it is easy to produce different types of initial and subsequent instabilities. The basic steady regime for axially symmetric flow has been studied by many authors (see 1, 2]). Questions of the transition in the gap between disks have been considered 3, 4]. This paper presents a methodology and the results of experimental investigations for different types of initial and subsequent instabilities in the gap between disks enclosed by a cylindrical cover. It was found that as a result of the loss of stability of the basic regime one of two steady vortex regimes is developed depending on the value of the relative gap width. The subsequent stages of soft excitation of the turbulent regime are described and the corresponding boundaries established. It is shown that in very narrow gaps the excitation of turbulence has a hard nature of the type realized in Couette flow. The stability limit for a laminarized boundary layer on a rotating disk and the boundary for complete turbulence of the layer were determined for relatively wide gaps. A comparison was made with known data for an unenclosed rotating disk.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 28–36, September–October, 1984.