抄録
Temperature distribution visualized by liquid crystal suspension method indicates the heat diffusion process in a rotating drum filled with fluid heated with the rotating center shaft. When the flow is governed by a heat convection generated by a buoyant force acting on the heated fluid, the high temperature fluid raises up and piles up in the upper area of the drum. When the flow is governed by a forced convection by shear force from the wall of the rotating drum, the fluid motion becomes rigid rotation fully or approximately, and the heat radially spreads only by the heat conduction. In the case that the heat convection and the forced convection balance each other and both convection flows are appear, the heated fluid raises up by the buoyant force and is rotated by the rotation inertia force; as the result, the heated fluid is diffused around the drum. These characteristics of the heat diffusion process depend on the Taylor number, the Prandtl number and the heat flux released from the heating shaft.
