Hydrodynamic Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of SCF

We study the fundamental problem of spherical Couette flow (SCF) in the presence of heat and under the action of a gravitational field. The flow is considered as unsteady, axisymmetric and the fluid as viscous, incompressible and Newtonian. The numerical technique, which we use, is convergent and consistent and can be applied to 3D or 2D flow motions. We focus our attention to such aspect ratios ( ) o i i σ= r -r r for which have the presence of the important physical phenomenon of Taylor vortices formation and especially for large annular gaps, σ>0.24. Results concerning the stream function, the temperature field, the function of vorticity, the skin friction and the rate of heat transfer for large annular gap are presented. Finally, we calculate the drag acting on the inner and outer sphere and the thermal energy which is convected from the inner sphere to the fluid and from the fluid to the outer sphere. Key-Words: Spherical Couette flow, Taylor vortices, Drag, Thermal energy