Experimental Study of the Laminar-Turbulent Transition in a Tilted Taylor-Couette System Subject to Free Surface Effect

An experimental study of the laminar-turbulent transition between two coaxial rotating cylinders with the inner cylinder rotates and outer one stationary is presented in this paper. Special attention is given to the onset of various flow modes in tilted and partially filled system. The effect of the inclination angle was investigated on the different flow regimes occurring at fully and/ or partially filled space between two rotating cylinders. The flow behavior, the transitional phenomena and the features of various flow modes are discussed for different inclination angles, filling ratio and Taylor numbers. It is established that the different filling ratio and inclination angles of the Taylor-Couette system deeply affect the flow patterns. Furthermore, the most significant result concerns the relaminarization of the flow when the aspect ratio is decreased and inclination angle is increased for a given value of Taylor number.