We discuss the flow between concentric rotating cylinders in the limit of large radii where the system approaches plane Couette flow. We discuss how in this limit the linear instability that leads to the formation of Taylor vortices is lost and how the character of the transition approaches that of planar shear flows. In particular, a parameter regime is identified where fractal distributions o...

Methods to derive macroscopic transport equations for rarefied gases from the Boltzmann equations are presented. Featured methods include the Chapman-Enskog expansion, Grad’s moment method, and the author’s order of magnitude method. The resulting macroscopic equations are compared and discussed by means of simple problems, including linear stability, shock wave structures, and Couette flow.

The quantitative analysis of low-dimensional chaotic dynamical systems has been an active area of research for many years. Up until now, most work has concentrated on the analysis of time series data from laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Examples include Rayleigh-Bénard convection, Couette-Taylor fluid flow, and the Belousov-Zhabotinskii chemical reaction [Libchaber, Fauve & La...

We report the results of a theoretical study of the stability of a Couette flow of dilute and concentrated suspensions of stiff fibers. The Ericksen anisotropic fluid rheological equation of state in the wide-gap situation is used to compute the critical Taylor number and wavenumber of the suspension as a function of the aspect ratio of the fibers and the gap-width

An H theorem for the linearized Grad 13 moment equations leads to regularizing constitutive equations for higher fluxes and to a complete set of boundary conditions. Solutions for Couette and Poiseuille flows show good agreement with direct simulation Monte Carlo calculations. The Knudsen minimum for the relative mass flow rate is reproduced.

We illustrate the convenience of a long-lasting microgravity environment to study flows of granular materials with and without gas interaction. We consider collisional granular flows of nearly elastic identical spheres in an axisymmetric Couette channel featuring two cylindrical moving bumpy boundaries and two flat walls. We review governing equations for these flows, illustrate their solutions...