Boundary-layer transition on a rotating cone in still fluid

Abstract

A linear stability analysis and experiments were carried out for the laminar–turbulent transition of three-dimensional incompressible boundary layers induced on the surface of a cone rotating around the axis of symmetry with constant angular speed in still fluid. Five cones having total angle of 30°–150° were tested. The results show that the critical and transition Reynolds numbers, the direction of spiral vortices appearing in the transition region and their number on a cone increase as the cone angle is increased, and they tend to the values for the case of a rotating disk. Flow visualizations were made for the transitional process and also for cross-sectional flows of spiral vortices.