Wave number selection under the action of accelerated rotation

Abstract

Unsteady viscous incompressible flows in a spherical layer due to an increase in the rotation velocity of the inner sphere with constant acceleration are investigated. The acceleration starts at the Reynolds numbers Re corresponding to a stationary flow and ends at Re higher than the stability limit of the stationary flow, whereupon the rotation velocity of the inner sphere remains constant. The outer sphere is fixed and the spherical layer thickness is equal to the inner sphere radius. The inner sphere acceleration effect is studied on both the formation of one of two possible secondary-flow structures after the acceleration has been stopped, namely, traveling azimuthal waves with wavenumbers of 3 or 4, and on the change in the flow structure during the action of the acceleration. It is shown that not only an increase in the acceleration but also a decrease in Re corresponding to the acceleration onset can lead to an increase in the deviation of the instantaneous velocity profiles from their stationary values and can be accompanied by a variation in the secondary flow wavenumber. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.