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Accueil > Équipes > Équipe MEIGE > Diffusion scientifique > Séminaires internes

Effect of the Coriolis force on the drainage of a circular tank

Isabel Peinke, 18/07/2013

The aim of our experiment is to examine the impact of the Coriolis force on the drainage of a tank. We use a circular tank 2 m in diameter and a draining hole in the center. In 1856 Perrot talked the first time about the drainage of a circular tank to show the rotation of the Earth. Then in 1962 Shapiro built up an experiment we took as model. He visualised the effect of the Coriolis force by the rotation of a cross floating above the draining hole. Trefethen repeated this experiment in the southern hemisphere in 1965. Afterwards this experiment was not repeated and no quantitative comparison with theory was ever done. Our goal is to confirm these results and provide such a quantitative comparison. For this purpose we seed the flow with floats using digital image analysis to get trajectories which we can compare with theory. Furthermore the floats provide information on the initial movement and initial angular momentum of the fluid. We also introduced a floating cross right above the draining hole to observe the built up of vorticity at the end of the drainage. This can be related to the initial angular momentum including the effect of Earth rotation. The presentation will show the results of the experiment including a discussion of uncertainties.