The influence of wavy vortex in reducing the wall shear stress

Abstract

A numerical study is preformed to demonstrate the influence of wavy vortex in reducing the wall shear stress for Taylor Couette flow (viscous flow in the annuals gap between two concentrated cylinders). The study replicates an experimental investigation performed for Taylor Couette flow with radius ration of 0.892. LES of WALE model is used to solve the 3D Navier-Stokes equation in OpenFOAM. Simulation was carried out for a range of Reynold's Number (Re); and normalized torque, wall shear and velocity are compared for various flow structure. It is found that the azimuthal wall shear near the mid region drops significantly due to the appearance of wavy vortex flow. This finding may play a significant role in the study of drag reduction and can be practically applied in various fluid structure interaction systems involving rotational parts to improve frictional efficiency. � Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.