Instability and equilibration of centrifugally stable stratified Taylor-Couette flow.
The flow between two concentric cylinders, V(r), is studied analytically and computationally for a fluid with stable axial density stratification. A sufficient condition for linear, inviscid instability is d(V/r)(2)/dr<0 (i.e., all anticyclonically sheared flows) rather than the Rayleigh condition for centrifugal instability, d(Vr)(2)/dr<0. This implies a far wider range of instability than previously identified. The instability persists with finite viscosity and nonlinearity, leading to chaos and fully developed turbulence through a sequence of bifurcations. Laboratory tests are feasible and desirable.
Molemaker
M J
MJ
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA.
McWilliams
J C
JC
Yavneh
I
I