Combined Effects of Axial Flow and High System Rotation on the Fluid Dynamics of Taylor-Couette-Poiseuille Flow

Abstract

Taylor-Couette-Poiseuille (TCP) flow, characterized by the flow through an inner rotating shaft and an outer stationary cylinder, is a fundamental flow system in many industrial applications, including ship stern tubes, turbomachinery, journal bearings, and offshore drilling. Understanding the hydrodynamics of the TCP flow offers significant benefits for ensuring the robust design and operational efficiency of such systems. This paper presents the numerical modeling of turbulent TCP flow to assess the combined effects of two key control parameters-axial Reynolds number (10000-30000) and Taylor number (2.2x107-3.1x109)-on the fluid dynamics within the system. Using Reynolds Stress Modeling, this study investigates the behavior of TCP flow at high Reynolds numbers, which is relevant to real-world rotating machinery. The results indicate that the interaction between rotation and axial flow is not linear, with high rotation rates showing distinct behavior from low rotation rates, especially in the throughflow effects. At low and moderate rotation numbers (N), both the mean and turbulent variables display strong dependence on the rotational velocity and axial flow rate. However, further increases in N lead the flow field to be increasingly dominated by the contribution of rotation, and mean flow variables become relatively independent of the imposed flow rate. Furthermore, systematic deviations from the log-law in the boundary layer velocity profiles further emphasize the need to account for the combined effects of rotation and axial flow in the TCP flow system design and operation.

Keywords

• taylor-couette-poiseuille flow
• annular flow
• turbulence
• computational fluid dynamics
• concentric annulus
• stern tube