STABILITY OF FLOW BETWEEN ARBITRARILY SPACED CONCENTRIC CYLINDRICAL SURFACES INCLUDING THE EFFECT OF A RADIAL TEMPERATURE GRADIENT

Abstract

The stability of Couette flow and flow due to an azimuthal pressure gradient between arbitrarily spaced concentric cylindrical surfaces was investigated. The stability problems are solved by using the Galerkin method in conjunction with a simple set of polynomial expansion functions. Results are given for a wide range of spacings. For Couette flow, in the case that the cylinders rotate in the same direction, a simple formula for predicting the critical speed is derived. The effect of a radial temperature gradient on the stability of Couette flow is also considered. It is found that positive and negative temperature gradients are destabilizing and stabilizing respectively.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 14, 1963
Accession Number
AD0419033

Entities

People

  • J. Walowit
  • R. C. Diprima
  • S. Tsao

Organizations

  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computations
  • Couette Flow
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Flow
  • Fluid Flow
  • Galerkin Method
  • Geometry
  • Heat Transfer
  • Instability
  • Integral Equations
  • Integrals
  • Mathematics
  • Polynomials
  • Pressure Gradients
  • Temperature Gradients
  • Viscous Flow

Readers

  • Control Systems Engineering.
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Finite Element Method (FEM) for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs)

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster