SUMMARYUnder certain conditions of liquid ow through rotating channels, the Coriolis force can induce a free surface to be formed. This problem is of practical importance in a Coriolis wear tester, which is used for determining the sliding wear coe cient of wear materials in slurry handling equipment. A deforming Galerkin ÿnite element method is presented for predicting two-dimensional turbulent free surface mean ow in rotating channels. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are cast into weak (algebraic) form using primitive variables (velocity and pressure). Eddy viscosity is determined via a mixing length model. Velocity is interpolated biquadratically, while pressure is interpolated bilinearly. The kinematic condition is used to form the Galerkin residual for the free surface. The free surface is represented by Hermite polynomials of zeroeth order for continuity of position and slope. Combined Newton's iteration is used to simultaneously solve for the free surface and the ÿeld variables. Results of velocity and pressure ÿelds, as well as the free surface are shown to converge with mesh-size reÿnement. There is excellent respect for mass conservation. Results are presented for various values of Rossby number (Ro) and height-based Reynolds number (Re H ). Parameter continuation in Ro and Re H space is used to compute solutions at higher values of ow rate and angular velocity.
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