Effect of radial temperature gradient on the stability of flow in an annulus with constant heat flux at the inner cylinder - wide gap problem (Q1094963)

The authors consider the effects of a radial temperature gradient imposed due to the presence of a constant heat flux at the inner cylinder, on the stability of flow of a viscous fluid in a wide gap bounded by two concentric rotating cylinders \((\Omega _ 1,\Omega _ 2\)- angular velocities of the inner and the outer cylinders, respectively) of radii \(R_ 1\) and \(R_ 2\) \((R_ 1\)- radius of the inner cylinder, \(R_ 2\)- radius of the outer cylinder). An exact numerical solution to the eigenvalue problem is presented and the critical values of `a' the wave number and `T' the Taylor number are derived for different values of \(\eta (=R_ 1/R_ 2)\), \(\pm \mu (\Omega _ 2/\Omega _ 1)\) and N \((=Ray/T)\) (Ray - the Rayleigh number). \(T_ c\) is shown graphically for different values of \(\eta\), \(\pm \mu\) and N. It is observed that the presence of a radial temperature gradient enhances the stability of the flow. Also, with a decrease in the gap-width, the flow becomes less stable. In the presence of counter-rotating flow, the flow becomes more stable due to the presence of a radial temperature gradient.