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OVERVIEW:
The BLASST Lab also owns a rotating cylindrical tank. This
tank has a wireless video camera mounted above to capture
experiments in the rotating frame of reference. This tank
is an important teaching tool, both in class and on the Web.
Learn
about other equipment we have at the BLASST Lab HERE
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BACKGROUND:
G.I.
Taylor (1886-1975) and "Taylor Columns:"
Many of the experiments conducted in our rotating tank demonstrate
concepts first described by the British scientist Geoffrey Ingram
Taylor. A pioneer in the field of geophysical fluid dynamics, he
also made significant contributions to turbulence, aeronautics,
and solid mechanics studies. It was Taylor who described the vertical
rigidity found in rapidly rotating homogeneous fluids: dye released
in such a system forms spiral sheets called "Taylor columns"
or "Taylor curtains."
EXPERIMENTS:
Click on the Experiment titles to view video footage
Taylor
Columns -- dye injection during spin-up
Experiment: Tank was partially filled with water and rotation was
begun at 26 rpm. After 45 seconds of rotation (before solid body
rotation was reached), dye was injected. The dye formed vertical
lines which developed into spiral sheets (Taylor columns).
Solid
Body Rotation--dye injection at solid body
rotation
Experiment: Tank was partially filled with water and rotation was
begun at 26 rpm. After 10 minutes of rotation (after solid body
rotation was reached), dye was added. The dye formed vertical lines
but diffused and spread only minimally since the water was rotating
at the same speed throughout the tank.
Taylor
Columns and Vertical Coherence--flow past an
obstruction
Experiment: Tank was partially filled with water and a cylindrical
obstruction 1/4 the height of the water depth was placed on the
bottom of the tank, slightly off-center. The tank was brought to
solid body rotation and dye was added, then the rotation speed was
decreased by <1 rpm so that the fluid, still rotating at the
faster rate, flowed with respect to the tank and the obstacle, which
were rotating at the slower rate. The vertical dye sheets which
formed flowed around, rather than across, the obstruction.
LINKS
:
Colorado
State University
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
University
of Hawaii
Harvard
University -- about G.I. Taylor
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