Turbulence decay towards the linearly-stable regime of Taylor-Couette flow

Abstract

Taylor-Couette (TC) flow is used to probe the hydrodynamical stability of astrophysical accretion disks. Experimental data on the subcritical stability of TC are in conflict about the existence of turbulence (cf. Ji et al. Nature, 444, 343-346 (2006) and Paoletti et al., A$\&$A, 547, A64 (2012)), with discrepancies attributed to end-plate effects. In this paper we numerically simulate TC flow with axially periodic boundary conditions to explore the existence of sub-critical transitions to turbulence when no end-plates are present. We start the simulations with a fully turbulent state in the unstable regime and enter the linearly stable regime by suddenly starting a (stabilizing) outer cylinder rotation. The shear Reynolds number of the turbulent initial state is up to $R{e}_s\sim 10^5$ and the radius ratio is $\eta =0.714$. The stabilization causes the system to behave as a damped oscillator and correspondingly the turbulence decays. The evolution of the torque and turbulent kinetic energy is analysed and the periodicity and damping of the oscillations are quantified and explained as a function of shear Reynolds number. Though the initially turbulent flow state decays, surprisingly, the system is found to absorb energy during this decay.

Preprint submitted to PRL, 12 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Hydrodynamic turbulence cannot transport angular momentum effectively in astrophysical disks
• Stability and angular-momentum transport of fluid flows between corotating cylinders
• Nonlinear stability of laboratory quasi-Keplerian flows
• On self-sustaining processes in Rayleigh-stable rotating plane Couette flows and subcritical transition to turbulence in accretion disks

Cited by in corpus (13)

• High Reynolds number Taylor-Couette turbulence
• Dynamo Action in a Quasi-Keplerian Taylor-Couette Flow
• Hydrodynamic turbulence in quasi-Keplerian rotating flows
• Periodically driven Taylor-Couette turbulence
• Taylor-Couette flow for astrophysical purposes
• Routes to turbulence in Taylor-Couette flow
• Reynolds number scaling of influence of boundary layers on the global behavior of laboratory quasi-Keplerian flows
• Azimuthal velocity profiles in Rayleigh-stable Taylor-Couette flow and implied axial angular momentum transport
• Turbulent Taylor-Couette flow with stationary inner cylinder
• Much faster heat/mass than momentum transport in rotating Couette flows
• The boiling Twente Taylor-Couette (BTTC) facility: Temperature controlled turbulent flow between independently rotating, coaxial cylinders
• Self-similar decay of high Reynolds number Taylor-Couette turbulence
• Subcritical transition to turbulence in accretion disc boundary layer