Simulation of the Taylor-Couette flow in a finite geometry by spectral element method

The purpose of the present numerical method is to simulate the flow in betw een two concentric cylinders of finite axial length. The numerical integrat ion of the transient three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equatio ns is performed by a Legendre spectral element method in space while the ti me marching scheme is fully explicit. By taking full advantage of the tenso r product bases, it is possible to set up fast diagonalization techniques i n order to speed up the solver. Numerical results are compared favorably wi th experimental data. (C) 2000 IMACS. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.