Viscous Dissipation in Finite Thin-Gap Couette Devices

An analytical solution is reported for the temperature distribution in finite span thin-gap Couette devices which accounts for viscous dissipation. Taken in conjunction with an established solution for the stable velocity profile, this result describes the standard experimental configuration where no external heat fluxes are applied. We discuss physical aspects as well as conditions for which classical one-dimensional theory should be replaced by the present result