Turbulent swirling flow in a short closed cylindrical chamber has been
measured with laser Doppler anemometry. The swirl was generated by a
rotating roughened disk and measured during steady and transient condi
tions with a smooth disk. The velocity and turbulence fields were foun
d to be strongly dependent on swirl Reynolds numbers (in the range 0.3
x 10(6) < OMEGAR2/v < 0.6 x 10(6)) and on chamber length-to-diameter
ratio (in the range 0.1 less-than-or-equal-to L/D less-than-or-equal-t
o 0.5). With a roughened disk the flow was nearly independent of Reyno
lds number though still strongly dependent on chamber length-to-diamet
er ratio.