Taylor-Couette Flow & Hydrodynamic Stability
Circular Couette flow · Taylor vortices · wavy vortex flow · turbulence
Parameters
Inner cylinder Ω₁:
1.00
Outer cylinder Ω₂:
0.00
Radius ratio η = R₁/R₂:
0.50
Vortex wavelength:
6
Animate
Stability
Taylor number Ta:
-
Ta_c (critical):
-
Flow regime:
-
Rayleigh criterion:
-
Rayleigh criterion (1916):
Flow stable iff d(r²Ω)²/dr > 0 everywhere.
Taylor (1923):
Ta_c ≈ 1708 for narrow gap. Vortex pairs appear at onset.
Sequence: Couette → Taylor vortex → Wavy vortex → Modulated wavy → Turbulent.