Taylor Vortices Induced Instability and Turbulence in Concentric Cylinder Separated by Microscale Clearance

This paper attempts to elaborate on the relationship between the onset of Taylor instability and appearance of what is commonly known as “turbulent flow” in the narrow gaps of concentric cylinders, with the inner cylinder rotating. A question that we dare open to debate is whether the flow formations observed during Taylor instability regimes are, or have to do with the actual “turbulence” that we model in microscale clearance flows through the turbulent formulation of the Reynolds equation.