Small aspect ratio Taylor-Couette flow: onset of a very-low-frequency three-torus state.

Abstract

The nonlinear dynamics of Taylor-Couette flow in a small aspect ratio annulus (where the length of the cylinders is half of the annular gap between them) is investigated by numerically solving the full three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. The system is invariant to arbitrary rotations about the annulus axis and to a reflection about the annulus half-height, so that the symmetry group is SO(2)xZ2. In this paper, we systematically investigate primary and subsequent bifurcations of the basic state, concentrating on a parameter regime where the basic state becomes unstable via Hopf bifurcations. We derive the four distinct cases for the symmetries of the bifurcated orbit, and numerically find two of these. In the parameter regime considered, we also locate the codimension-two double Hopf bifurcation where these two Hopf bifurcations coincide. Secondary Hopf bifurcations (Neimark-Sacker bifurcations), leading to modulated rotating waves, are subsequently found and a saddle-node-infinite-period bifurcation between a stable (node) and an unstable (saddle) modulated rotating wave is located, which gives rise to a very-low-frequency three-torus. This paper provides the computed example of such a state, along with a comprehensive bifurcation sequence leading to its onset.