Jo Apr 19, 2024

Taylor-Couette flow, the flow in the gap between two independently rotating coaxial cylinders, is one of the most discussed problems in fluid mechanics, due to its conception simplicity and applications in processing technology.

In the case of a circular Couette flow with superimposed axial throughput, the flow patterns are expected to be more complicated due to strong interactions between axial and rotating flows.

Recently, there have been some reports that Taylor-Couette flow could be used for production of nano materials. Due to the very strong shear rate of particles in the Taylor-Couette flow, the shaking particles in the fluid tend to split with time and so this is one of the main reasons that Taylor-Couette systems are used to produce nano materials.

Ju Jong Min, a section head at the Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, has developed a machine for producing nano materials by deciding the geometrical dimension of a system and the rotating speed of inner cylinder to form TC flow in Taylor-Couette system without axial flow.

Observing Taylor-Couette vortex at Reynolds number of 500~2 000, he chose rotating speed, viscosity of fluid and geometrical structure of system like the radii of inner and outer cylinders and its ratio and the aspect ratio of system suitable for obtaining steady Taylor-Couette flow. He concluded from the experiment that the rotating speed of 800r/min, the viscosity of fluid of 0.1Pa•s and the radius ratio of 0.88 are appropriate for steady Taylor-Couette flow.