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Transition from Ekman flow to Taylor vortex flow in superfluid helium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2004

KAREN L. HENDERSON
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UKKaren.Henderson@uwe.ac.uk
CARLO F. BARENGHI
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKC.F.Barenghi@ncl.ac.uk

Abstract

By numerically computing the steady axisymmetric flow of helium II confined inside a finite-aspect-ratio Couette annulus, we determine the transition from Ekman flow to Taylor vortex flow as a function of temperature and aspect ratio. We find that the low-Reynolds-number flow is quite different to that of a classical fluid, particularly at lower temperatures. At high aspect ratio our results confirm the existing linear stability theory of the onset of Taylor vortices, which assumes infinitely long cylinders.

Type
Papers
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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