Turbulent Spot in Linearly Stable Taylor Couette Flow

The transition from the laminar to the turbulent regime in linearly stable shear flows, for example, pipe and plane Couette flows, occurs abruptly with no precursor. The evolution of turbulent spots has been studied to better understand the dynamics of this transition and the onset of turbulence. These studies have mostly focused on pipe flows...

Experimental study of surface modification in a fully turbulent Taylor-Couette flow

Friction measurements were performed in a Taylor-Couette setup. Drag reduction was obtained with a riblet surface and indicated a drag reduction for a wide range of shear Reynolds numbers, with a maximum of 5.3% at Re_s=47000 (s+=14). Tomographic PIV verified that the friction coefficients are strongly related to the flow regimes and structures....

Turbulent Taylor–Couette flow over riblets: Drag reduction and the effect of bulk fluid rotation

A Taylor–Couette facility was used to measure the drag reduction of a riblet surface on the inner cylinder. The drag on the surfaces of the inner and outer cylinders is determined from the measured torque when the cylinders are in exact counter-rotation. The three velocity components in the instantaneous flow field were obtained by tomographic...

Riblet drag reduction and the effect of bulk fluid rotation in a fully turbulent Taylor-Couette flow

Low drag surfaces are often desired in many industries with applications in open and closed channel flows, such as ship hulls and pipe flows. Drag reduction is a phenomenon that can have substantial energy savings, resulting in ecological and economical benefits. We use a Taylor-Couette facility as experimental instrument to measure the drag...

Rowing faster by surface treatment

The largest part of hydrodynamic drag during rowing, sailing or canoeing is the turbulent skin friction (80-90%). Higher velocities can be achieved by reducing the friction drag as a result of surface treatment. This research focuses on the development, characterization, and testing of drag-reducing surfaces, like nano- and micro-structured...

Spatial resolution and dissipation rate estimation in Taylor–Couette flow for tomographic PIV