Numerical simulation of instabilities and secondary regimes in spherical Couette flow (Q1925189)

We solve the linear problem of the stability of the main flow and simulate the secondary flows on the basis of the complete nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations, which makes it possible to explain many of the results obtained experimentally. The type of bifurcation and the structure of the disturbances whose growth leads to the appearance of three-dimensional nonstationary flows are determined, and the transitions between different secondary regimes in the region of weak supercriticality are described.