Centrifugal instabilities during spin-down to rest in finite cylinders. Numerical experiments

A cylinder filled with a viscous, incompressible fluid is in an initial state of rigid-body rotation about its axis of symmetry. If the container is brought to rest impulsively, the resulting unsteady spin-down flow may be subject to sidewall instabilities due to an imbalance between centrifugal and pressure gradient forces. These instabilities are examined numerically using a finite-difference simulation to integrate the axisymmetric Navier–Stokes equations for a variety of aspect ratios and Reynolds numbers. The Taylor–Görtler vortex-wavelength spectrum, the torque and the angular momentum histories are calculated. Criteria for the onset time for instability and the spin-down time are given. The effects of the enhanced mixing due to instability on the spin-down characteristics and torque are discussed. The results are compared with experiment.