Abstract
Numerical study was performed for the vortex breakdowns in swirling flows driven by constantly rotating the top cover of cylindrical containers. Computation was done for the parameter range where steady axisymmetric flows emerge. By varying the grid resolution and by using the Richardson extrapolation, resolution independent solutions are obtained and flow state diagram was numerically constructed. Numerical results are compared with the experimental visualizations by Escudier and Roesner and a good agreement was observed. The present results are compared also with the previous study by Brons et al. for high Re, high aspect ratio cases. The comparison revealed some disagreement on some part of the bifurcation curves. Numerical solutions obtained in the present study might be used as benchmark solutions with which newly developed numerical methods may be tested against.
