Taylor vortices in short fluid columns

A series of experiments has been made investigating Taylor vortex flow in short columns of fluid that are bounded by resting horizontal plates. The outer cylinder was at rest and the radius ratio was 0.885. The fluids were silicone oils of 0.10 and 0.05 cm2/sec viscosity. In all experiments even numbers of vortices have been observed, the number depending on the aspect ratio of the fluid column, the Reynolds number, and the initial conditions. The direction of the flow at the horizontal boundaries was in all cases inward.