Gap Effect on Taylor Vortex Size Between Rotating Conical Cylinders

The present paper is concerned with an experimental study of the occurrence of Taylor vortices between conical cylinders, the inner one rotating and the outer one at rest. Gap effect on the non-uniqueness of the Taylor vortex flow mode is investigated. Six different flow modes are observed according to the gap width, the acceleration of the inner rotating conical cylinder and Reynolds number. In one of the observed flow modes very large Taylor vortices are obtained with a wavelength up to 3.5 times the gap width. This kind of Taylor vortices has not been observed before in our knowledge