Diagnostics of BubbleMode Vortex Breakdown in Swirling Flow in a Large-Aspect-Ratio Cylinder

We report for the first time on the possible formation of regions with counterflow (bubble-mode vortex breakdown or explosion) at the center of strongly swirling flow generated by a rotating endwall in a large-aspect-ratio cylindrical cavity filled with a liquid medium. Previously, the possibility of bubble-mode breakdown was studied in detail for cylindrical cavities of moderate aspect ratio (length to radius ratios up to H/R ∼ 3.5), while flows in large-aspect-ratio cylinders were only associated with regimes of self-organized helical vortex multiplets. In the present study, a regime with nonstationary bubble-mode vortex breakdown has been observed in a cylindrical cavity with H/R = 4.5.