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In this work the instability of the Taylor-Couette flow for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids (dilatant and pseudoplastic fluids) is investigated for cases of finite aspect ratios. The study is conducted numerically using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). In many industrial applications, the apparatuses and installations drift away from the idealized case of an annulus of infinite length, and thus the end caps effect can no longer be ignored. The inner cylinder is rotating while the outer one and the end walls are maintained at rest. The lattice two-dimensional nine-velocity (D2Q9) Boltzmann model developed from the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook approximation is used to obtain the flow field for fluids obeying the power-law model. The combined effects of the Reynolds number, the radius ratio, and the power-law index n on the flow characteristics are analyzed for an annular space of finite aspect ratio. Two flow modes are obtained: a primary Couette flow (CF) mode and a secondary Taylor vortex flow (TVF) mode. The flow structures so obtained are different from one mode to another. The critical Reynolds number Re(c) for the passage from the primary to the secondary mode exhibits the lowest value for the pseudoplastic fluids and the highest value for the dilatant fluids. The findings are useful for studies of the swirling flow of non-Newtonians fluids in axisymmetric geometries using LBM. The flow changes from the CF to TVF and its structure switches from the two-cells to four-cells regime for both Newtonian and dilatant fluids. Contrariwise for pseudoplastic fluids, the flow exhibits 2-4-2 structure passing from two-cells to four cells and switches again to the two-cells configuration. Furthermore, the critical Reynolds number presents a monotonic increase with the power-law index n of the non-Newtonian fluid, and as the radius ratio grows, the transition flow regimes tend to appear for higher critical Reynolds numbers.

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PurposeTo investigate the forced convection heat transfer to hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed laminar steady flow of power‐law non‐Newtonian fluid in a partially porous square duct.Design/methodology/approachThe modified Brinkmann‐Forchheimer extended Darcy model for power‐law fluids is used in the porous layer. The solutions for the velocity and temperature fields are obtained numerically using the finite volume method. Computations are performed over a range of Darcy number, power‐law indices, porous insert thickness and thermal conductivity ratio.FindingsThe average Nusselt number and the Fanning factor, so obtained are found to be in good agreement with the literature. It is highlighted that a heat transfer improvement is obtained when the channel is entirely porous and this enhancement is maximized at low permeability. While depending on the working conditions, heat transfer enhancement can also be obtained by filling partially the duct with the porous insert, even if the conductivity ratio is equal to 1. The results indicate also that the conductivity ratio has a strong impact on the heat transfer enhancement at high permeability, while this impact is significant beyond a critical thickness of the porous layer at low permeability. It is found that both shear‐thinning (n<1) and shear‐thickening (n>1) fluids allow obtaining the highest Nusselt number according to the properties of the porous insert. The presence of the porous insert causes a significant increase in pressure drop. This added pressure drop is found to be more important with shear thickening fluids (n>1).Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this paper are valid for square ducts and H1 thermal boundary condition, corresponding to an axially uniform heat flux and peripherally uniform temperature. The inertial effects are neglected in the porous region.Practical implicationsThe obtained results can be used in the design of heat exchangers and in the cooling of electronic equipments.Originality/valueThis work investigates some interesting ways to enhance heat transfer in three‐dimensional square ducts by using porous substrates and non‐Newtonian fluids. It is believed that the case studied in this paper has not previously been investigated.

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