Slit wall aspect ratio effect on the stability and heat transfer characteristics of Taylor-Couette flow

Taylor-Couette flow in the annulus was investigated by numerical simulation. The stability of Taylor-Couette flow and its heat transfer process of four different models were studied. By comparing the result in four different models, it is found that the Nusselt number of the model with slit aspect ratio of 0.75 is larger than the result of other models, with the further increasing of aspect ratio, the heat transfer performance of the fluid in the annular gap is not enhanced significantly. The Nusselt number of the model with aspect ratio of 0.75 increases as the Reynolds number increases. Additionally, the temperature gradient has the inhibition effect on the transition from laminar Couette flow to Taylor vortex flow, and as the temperature gradient increasing, this effect becomes more obvious. Finally, the fitting empirical formulas of the model with aspect ratio of 0.75 were obtained at different conditions. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.