Laminar Flow Between a Rotating Disk and a Parallel Stationary Wall With and Without Radial Inflow

Abstract

The laminar velocity field between a rotating disk and a stationary disk of the same diameter was investigated by means of a pulsed dye technique without throughflow and in the presence of radial inflow. A stability limit for steady laminar flow was experimentally determined as a function of disk Reynolds number, ReD = R2ωD/ν, and the ratio of gap width to disk radius, z0/R, for the no throughflow case and for a throughflow rate of 0.31 cfm. The basic steady-state data were obtained as a series of paired photographs, a top view and a side elevation, of a dye stream pulsed at a known rate. Data was obtained for ReD = R2ωD/ν from 4.45 × 103 to 1 × 104, z0/R from 0.0476 to 0.0952, and Kν = RωD/Vra from 1.70 to ∞.