Starting vortex

About: Starting vortex is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4785 publications have been published within this topic receiving 100419 citations.

Vortex evolution due to straining: a mechanism for dominance of strong, interior anticyclones

Abstract: In this article we address two questions: Why do freely evolving vortices weaken on average, even when the viscosity is very small? Why, in the fluid’s interior, away from vertical boundaries and under the influence of Earth’s rotation and stable density stratification, do anticyclonic vortices become dominant over cyclonic ones when the Rossby number and deformation radius are finite? The context for answering these questions is a rotating, conservative, Shallow-water model with Asymmetric and Gradient-wind Balance approximations. The controlling mechanisms are vortex weakening under straining deformation (with a weakening that is substantially greater for strong cyclones than strong anticyclones) followed by a partially compensating vortex strengthening during a relaxation phase dominated by Vortex Rossby Waves (VRWs) and their eddy–mean interaction with the vortex. The outcome is a net, strain-induced vortex weakening that is greater for cyclones than anticyclones when the deformation radius is not large compared to the vortex radius and the Rossby number is not small. Furthermore, when the exterior strain flow is sustained, the vortex changes also are sustained: for small Rossby number (i.e., the quasigeostrophic limit, QG), vortices continue to weaken at a relatively modest rate, but for larger Rossby number, cyclones weaken strongly and anticyclones actually strengthen systematically when the deformation radius is comparable to the vortex radius. The sustained vortex changes are associated with strain-induced VRWs on the periphery of the mean vortex. It therefore seems likely that, in a complex flow with many vortices, anticyclonic dominance develops over a sequence of transient mutual straining events due to the greater robustness of anticyclones (and occasionally their net strengthening).

An Experimental Investigation on Aerodynamic Hysteresis of a Low-Reynolds Number Airfoil

Abstract: ( ) An experimental study was conducted to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a NASA low speed GA(W)-1 airfoil at the chord Reynolds number of ReC=160,000. Aerodynamic hysteresis was observed for the angles of attack close to the static stall angle of the airfoil. In addition to mapping surface pressure distribution around the airfoil, a high-resolution PIV system was used to make detailed flow field measurements to quantify the occurrence and behavior of laminar boundary layer separation and transition on the airfoil when aerodynamic hysteresis occurs. The flow field measurements were correlated with the airfoil surface pressure measurements to elucidate underlying fundamental physics. For the same angle of attack in hysteresis loop, the flow obtained along the increasing angle branch was found to result in an almost attached flow with small unsteadiness, higher lift and lower drag, whereas the one with decreasing angle of attack branch was associated with large unsteadiness, lower lift, and higher drag. The hysteresis was found to be closely related to the behavior of the laminar boundary layer separation and transition on the airfoil. The ability of the flow to remember its past history is believed to be responsible for the hysteretic behavior.

The Steady Motion and Sabilily of a Helical Vortex

Abstract: 1. Introductory .—This is the third of a series of papers dealing with the stability or instability of certain forms of vortex motion associated with the wake of a body moving in a fluid. In the earlier papers we examined the case of a system of equal vortex rings in parallel planes, as they might form in the rear of a sphere in steady motion. Nisi and Porter have shown that the lowest speed at which the vortex ring forms is 8·14 v / d where v is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid and d is the diameter of the sphere. Such a system of vortices has been proved to be only partially stable, and it is therefore to be inferred that their production occurs at a transition stage to a more stable type of flow. Now it is well known that in the case of two dimensional flow past a cylinder of any cross-sectional shape, eddies are formed in symmetrical pairs at low values of Reynolds' number, whereas at higher values asymmetry sets in and the eddying is formed alternately at one side of the cylinder and then at the other with regular periodicity. This latter stage occurs over a range of values of Reynolds’ number extending from about 70 to 105. Detailed explorations of the field for some distance behind the cylinder have established that the centres of eddying approximately assume the stable formation which has come to be known as the “Karman vortex street."

The leading-edge vortex and quasisteady vortex shedding on an accelerating plate

Abstract: A computational inquiry focuses on leading-edge vortex (LEV) growth and shedding during acceleration of a two-dimensional flat plate at a fixed 10°–60° angle of attack and low Reynolds number. The plate accelerates from rest with a velocity given by a power of time ranging from 0 to 5. During the initial LEV growth, subtraction of the added mass lift from the computed lift reveals an LEV-induced lift augmentation evident across all powers and angles of attack. For the range of Reynolds numbers considered, a universal time scale exists for the peak when α≥30°, with augmentation lasting about four to five chord lengths of translation. This time scale matches well with the half-stroke of a flying insect. An oscillating pattern of leading- and trailing-edge vortex shedding follows the shedding of the initial LEV. The nondimensional frequency of shedding and lift coefficient minima and maxima closely match their values in the absence of acceleration. These observations support a quasisteady theory of vortex sh...