Experimental insights into elasto-inertial transitions in Taylor–Couette flows

Since the seminal work of Taylor in 1923, Taylor–Couette (TC) flow has served as a paradigm to study hydrodynamic instabilities and bifurcation phenomena. Transitions of Newtonian TC flows to inertial turbulence have been extensively studied and are well understood, while in the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in TC flows of complex, viscoelastic fluids. The transitions to elastic turbulence (ET) or elasto-inertial turbulence (EIT) have revealed fascinating dynamics and flow states; depending on the rheological properties of the fluids, a broad spectrum of transitions has been reported, including rotating standing waves, flame patterns (FP), and diwhirls (DW). The nature of these transitions and the relationship between ET and EIT are not fully understood. In this review, we discuss experimental efforts on TC flows of viscoelastic fluids. We outline the experimental methods employed and the non-dimensional parameters of interest, followed by an overview of inertia, elasticity and elasto-inertia-driven transitions to turbulence and their modulation through shear thinning or particle suspensions. The published experimental data are collated, and a map of flow transitions to EIT as a function of the key fluid parameters is provided, alongside perspectives for the future work. This article is part of the theme issue 'Taylor–Couette and related flows on the centennial of Taylor’s seminal Philosophical Transactions paper (part 1)'.