Three-dimensional mixed convection flows in a horizontal annulus with a heated rotating inner circular cylinder

Abstract

The existence of hydrodynamic instabilities leads to the formation of Taylor vortices in flows in the annulus between two concentric cylinders with one or both cylinders rotating. The study of heat transfer within the rotating enclosure is complex. For horizontal configuration, the buoyancy and the centrifugal effects (created by the heated rotating cylinder) are orthogonal and give rise to fully three-dimensional flows. The results of a three-dimensional numerical analysis of flows and heat transfer in a horizontal annulus with a heated rotating inner circular cylinder are presented. Solutions are presented over a wide range of the rotational Reynolds (Taylor) number and the Grashof number. The effect of the centrifugal instability on the heat transfer is examined. The aspect ratio Γ is varied from 1.0 to 10.0 while the radius ratio η for the annulus is maintained at the value of 2.6 for the results presented.