Non-Axis-Symmetric Taylor Vortex Flow in Eccentric Rotating Cylinders

An experimental study on the flow of an eccentric Couette-Taylor system is presented. In the system, the position of a fixed outer cylinder can be adjusted in relation to a rotating inner cylinder. The following results were obtained: when the displacement parameter was 0<ε<0.6, ε the ratio of the distance between the axes of the inner and outer cylinders to the average gap between these cylinders, a non-axis-symmetric Taylor vortex flow was observed. In particular, for e>0.3 the flow pattern of a no-axis-symmetric Taylor vortex flow was different from that of a concentric system. For ε>0.6, there was no steady vortex flow. A pre-vortex flow changed drastically at about ε=0.3, and a confined eddy occured for ε>0.3.