Numerical analysis of the bifurcation to wavy Taylor vortex flow with a small aspect ratio

Abstract

We present a numerical analysis of the bifurcation to wavy Taylor vortex flow from Taylor vortex flow with a small aspect ratio and compare the experimental results for the instability of the Taylor vortex flow and for the critical Reynolds number to the wavy Taylor vortex flow. In this work, flow patterns and spatially averaged energy and spatially averaged enstrophy are shown by 3-dimensional numerical analysis. Comparison of the critical Reynolds numbers between numerical results and experimental results shows broad agreement about qualitative variation.