Transient Free Surface Shape in an Abruptly Rotating, Partially Filled Cylinder

Abstract

An experimental investigation has been made to depict the transient free surface shape in spin-up from rest of a liquid in a partially filled cylinder. The rotational Reynolds number is large and the cylinder aspect ratio is 0(1). The experiments have been designed to validate the analytical model due to Homicz and Gerber, which is an extension of the model of Wedemeyer, Goller, and Ranov. An outline of this analytical model is given. The experimental setup and techniques are briefly described. The main emphasis is placed on presenting the experimental data of the free surface shape when the steady-state free surface intersects one or both of the endwall disks. The analytical predictions of the free surface shape are found to be in satisfactory agreement with the experimental measurements for all the possible free surface configurations. These explicit comparisons establish the practical usefulness of the analytical model; the model is capable of predicting the transient free surface shape during the spin-up phase of a liquid.