Turbulent Taylor–Couette Flow at Large Reynolds Numbers*

The problem of the steady-state turbulent flow of an incompressible fluid in the clearance between two coaxial infinite circular cylinders of radii R1 and R2, caused by the rotation of the inner cylinder of radius R1 under the conditions where the outer cylinder of radius R2 is immovable, i.e., the problem of a Taylor–Couette flow, was solved numerically within the framework of the model of a near-wall anisotropic turbulence with regard for the action of the centrifugal forces on the near-wall vortex structures determining the character of the flow between the cylinders. The profiles of the angular velocities of the fluid flowing along the radius of the clearance between the cylinders in the regime of completely developed turbulence were determined by numerical integration of the equation of motion of this fluid. The results of calculations of the flow between the cylinders at R1/R2 = 0.716 and Re = 105, 106, and 2·106 were compared with known solutions of the problem being considered and corresponding experimental data. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.