64th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics
Volume 56, Number 18
Sunday–Tuesday, November 20–22, 2011;
Baltimore, Maryland
Session D17: Taylor Couette Instability
2:10 PM–4:20 PM,
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Room: 320
Chair: Matt Paoletti, University of Texas at Austin
Abstract ID: BAPS.2011.DFD.D17.6
Abstract: D17.00006 : Recent results from the Princeton MRI experiment
3:15 PM–3:28 PM
Authors:
Erik Spence
(Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory)
Austin Roach
Eric Edlund
(Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory)
Christophe Gissinger
(Princeton University)
Peter Sloboda
Hantao Ji
(Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory)
The magnetorotational instability (MRI) is widely expected to be
responsible for the observationally inferred accretion rates of
astrophysical disks. The Princeton MRI experiment is a
Taylor-Couette device used to generate conditions under which the
MRI should be unstable: an externally applied magnetic field, and
a radially decreasing angular velocity profile. The apparatus'
unique feature is independently-rotating endcap rings, which are
used to reduce Ekman circulation. The working fluid is GaInSn;
its velocity field is measured using an ultrasonic Doppler
velocimetry system. Though an ideal-Couette angular rotation
profile can almost be attained, through careful choice of end-cap
ring speeds, residual Ekman circulation remains. The
instability's identification is complicated by this secondary
circulation, since it moves in the same radial direction as the
flow expected from the instability. Comparison of radial flows
in MRI-stable and MRI-unstable regimes is used to search for the
instability's signature, as determined by numerical simulations.
An update on the search for the instability will be presented.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.DFD.D17.6