Interaction of an obliquely rising vortex ring with a free surface in a viscous fluid

A vortex ring, which approaches a free surface under various initial conditions and different values of flow parameters, is investigated by means of numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations. The study focuses on the connection process of the vortex ring with the free surface at low Reynolds number. Discrepancies between a numerical solution and experimental observations found recently with regard to the shape of the reconnected vorticity tubes have been resolved. The crucial parameter, which determines the essential differences at the low Reynolds number selected, is the angle of inclination at which the vortex ring rises toward the free surface. At an angle of inclination of 20° circular vorticity tubes at the free surface evolve, while at an angle of 45° the reconnection takes place in the form of an almost circular sheet. At higher Reynolds number this form of reconnection may change to the other form through instability. The possibility of vortex-ring reflection at the free surface is discussed.

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Sommario Usando soluzioni numeriche delle equazioni di Navier-Stokes, viene analizzato il comportamento di un vortice and anello che si avvicina ad una superficie libera, per diverse condizioni iniziali e valori dei parametri del flusso. Lo studio è incentrato sul processo di connessione del vortice adnanello con la superficie libera per bassi numeri di Reynolds. con riguardo alla forma dei tubi di vorticità riconnessi con la superficie, tutte le differenze tra osservazioni sperimentali e simulazioni numeriche sono state risolte. Per bassi numeri di Reynolds, il parametro cruciale dell' interazione è l'angolo di inclinazione tra vortice e superficie. Per un angolo di 20° si formano tubi circolari di vorticità alla superficie, mentre a 45° la riconnessione ha luogo in forma di strato sottile di vorticità. Per altri numeri di Reynolds la forma della riconnessione può cambiare in altre forme a causa dell'instabilità. Infine viene discussa la possibilità di riflessione del vortice ad anello alla superficie.

     

Diffusion of a ring vortex

The diffusion of a ring vortex is investigated in the present paper with allowance for the influence of the initial radius of the toroidal vorticity distribution on the flow structure. The statement of the problem in such a formulation makes it possible to classify and reinterpret results obtained previously. A vortex pair is studied together with a vortex ring. The toroidal vorticity and stream function distributions are obtained analytically. The self-induced lift velocity of the ring vortex is found. The influence of inertial terms is investigated numerically.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 10–15, November–December, 1987.     

Transport in a turbulent vortex ring

Transport in a turbulent vortex ring is considered; the mass of a passive impurity transported by the vortex is found as a function of distance traveled via a formula that agrees closely with experiment. A method is indicated for filling the part of the vortex that transports the impurity without loss. The effects of the following factors on the transport have been examined: initial Reynolds number, roughness in walls of the exit hole, and density difference between the solution and the medium. The transport of aerosols and suspended particles by vortex rings is considered. Two methods of transport measurement are compared.     

Long-wave instability of a vortex ring

The instability of barrel-shaped vibrations of a vortex ring in an ideal fluid is investigated. These vibrations, stable for a vortex ring with a piecewise-uniform vorticity profile, appear to be unstable for a vortex ring with a smooth vorticity profile. The instability growth rate is found on the basis of the energy balance equation determining the energy transport from perturbations with negative energy in the critical layer to perturbations with positive energy in the rest of the flow. The curvature of the vortex ring, by virtue of which the perturbations with energies of different signs appear to be connected, plays a prominent role in the mechanism under consideration.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 72–78, November–December, 1995.     

Hydrodynamic structure of a vortex ring

Hot-wire anemometry and high-speed motion-picture photography have been used in an experimental study of the structure of a vortex ring in air. The velocity field and streamline pattern have been determined, together with the vorticity distribution. It has been shown that the vorticity is almost entirely localized in the region of the core of the vortex ring and quickly diminishes with distance from the core. Analysis of the experimental results permits a conclusion concerning the nonstationarity of vortex rings.The authors thank V. K. Sheremetov and V. A. Kosinov for their assistance.     

Rising vortex ring in a viscous fluid

Most theoretical results for thermals, whose motion is determined by the complex interaction between dynamics and buoyancy, have been obtained numerically [1–4]. The analytic solutions for a convection element have been limited to consideration of the self-similar regime [5]. At the same time, the preself-similar stage of development of a vortex ring of dynamic origin has been described analytically [6]. This approach is now extended to a rising vortex ring. In this case a modification of the traditional formulation of the problem makes it possible to obtain an analytic solution of the problem of a weak thermal in the form of unsteady temperature, vorticity and stream function fields that tend in the limit to the self-similar regime. The rate of ascent of the convective vortex ring is found. A solution is obtained for the two-dimensional analog of the problem.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 42–48, May–June, 1989.     

Characteristics of counter-rotating vortex rings formed ahead of a compressible vortex ring

Characteristics of high Mach number compressible vortex ring generated at the open end of a short driver section shock tube is studied experimentally using high-speed laser sheet-based flow visualization. The formation mechanism and the evolution of counter rotating vortex ring (CRVR) formed ahead of the primary vortex ring are studied in details for shock Mach number (M) 1.7, with different driver section lengths. It has been observed that the strength of the embedded shock, which appears at high M, increases with time due to the flow expansion in the generating jet. Strength of the embedded shock also varies with radius; it is strong at smaller radii and weak at larger radii; hence, it creates a velocity gradient ahead of the embedded shock. At critical Mach number (M _c ≥ 1.6), this shear layer rolls up and forms a counter rotating vortex ring due to Biot-Savart induction of the vortex sheet. For larger driver section lengths, the embedded shock and the resultant shear layer persists for a longer time, resulting in the formation of multiple CRVRs due to Kelvin–Helmholtz type instability of the vortex sheet. CRVRs roll over the periphery of the primary vortex ring; they move upstream due to their self-induced velocity and induced velocity imparted by primary ring, and interact with the trailing jet. Formation of these vortices depends strongly upon the embedded shock strength and the length of the generating jet. Primary ring diameter increases rapidly during the formation and the evolution of CRVR due to induced velocity imparted on the primary ring by CRVR. Induced velocity of CRVR also affects the translational velocity of the primary ring considerably.     

Associated disturbances around a vortex ring in a stratified fluid

A motion of a vortex ring in a stratified fluid is accompanied by associated disturbances which, in the schlieren visualization in the field of a horizontal density gradient, have the shape of a symmetric four-petal configuration. The criterion of the existence of the disturbances is the Froude number Fr based on the motion velocity and the vertical vortex size. On the range Fr > 1, the disturbances are stable with respect to the variation of themotion regime and the distortion of the vortex shape. For Fr < 1 the disturbances disappear. Computer processing of the schlieren photographs showed that the experimental spatial dependences of the disturbance amplitude are close to the functions describing the distribution of the vertical velocity component in the inviscid flow past a sphere.     

Model of vortex ring formation

A semi-empirical model of vortex ring formation during exhaustion of a pulsed submerged jet from a circular orifice is presented. Formulas for determining the parameters of the vortex ring, depending on the conditions of formation of the latter, are derived. The calculated characteristics of the vortex ring as functions of criteria determining the vortex formation process are demonstrated to be in good agreement with experimental data. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 49, No. 6, pp. 25–36, November–December, 2008.     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of a vortex ring impacting a bump

A vortex ring impinging on a three-dimensional bump is studied using large eddy simulation for a Reynolds number Re = 4 × 10⁴ based on the initial translation speed and diameter of the vortex ring. The effects of bump height on the vortical flow phenomena and the underlying physical mechanisms are investigated. Based on the analysis of the evolution of vortical structures, two typical kinds of vortical structures, i.e., the wrapping vortices and the hair-pin vortices, are identified and play an important role in the flow state evolution. The circulation of the primary vortex ring reasonably elucidates some typical phases of flow evolution. Furthermore, the mechanism of flow transition from laminar to turbulent state has been revealed based on analysis of turbulent kinetic energy.     

Interaction of a shock wave with a high-speed vortex ring

This is a detailed experimental study of the behavior of diffraction and refraction of a shock front resulting from the interaction of a shock wave and a vortex ring. A spherical shock wave impinges on a vortex ring which is traveling at a high speed in the opposite direction. The configuration of the wave front is visualized by a shadowgraph technique using a pulse dye laser. The shock front is influenced by the non-uniform flow induced by the vortex and diffracted around the vortex core. The shock front passing through the inside of the ring is decelerated by the counter-flow, and the density behind it increases. The diffracted front over the vortex ring expands spirally around the core and intersects the front passing through the inside of the ring. The intersecting circular curve converges toward the central axis of the ring. The diffracted shock in the inner part of the core forms branching waves. The branching points also focus on the central axis of the ring.     

Motion and oscillations of a circular perturbed vortex ring

The long bending distortions of the central line of a perturbed circular slender vortex ring with an axial velocity component are studied with the equation of motion of Callegari and Ting [1] rather than with the equation due to a cut-off method as in Widnall and Sullivan [2]. The link between the evolution of the perturbation and the inner structure of the vortex is then shown and the study of the perturbations of small amplitudes gives an analytical expression of the period of oscillation for a circular perturbed inviscid vortex. A numerical code that solves the full nonlinear filament evolution equation has been developed and validated by the results of the linear analysis. In the small amplitude limit, the numerical simulations and the analytical approach are in excellent agreement both for an inviscid and a viscous vortex. The evolution of a perturbation of finite amplitude is also given.     

Radiation and scattering of sound from a vortex ring

The mechanisms of generation and scattering of sound by a vortex ring are investigated on the basis of fluid dynamics. The vortex ring can serve as a simple dynamic model of the large-scale structures observed in shear flows. Moreover, it is probably the most easily studied vortex element that can be created experimentally. The sound scattering investigation also served to determine the extent to which the vortex is affected by sound, its selectivity with respect to such parameters as the acoustic frequency, the angle of incidence of the wave, etc. The perturbed motion is considered against the background of the steady-state motion of the ring. The perturbed motion in the vortex core is determined on the basis of linear incompressible fluid dynamics. Two terms of the expansion in the M number of the far acoustic field generated by the perturbations in the core are found in accordance with Lighthill's theory. The acoustic power and directivity of the radiation and the acoustic instability growth rate are calculated. It is shown that the scattering of sound by the vortex ring is a resonance effect, and the scattering amplitude near resonance is determined. The acoustic action on the hydrodynamic structure of the flow in the core of the ring is especially intense near the resonances and extends over a period short as compared with the characteristic time of the acoustic instability.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 83–95, May–June, 1987.     

Interaction of a vortex couple with a free surface

The characteristics of three-dimensional flow structures (scars and striations) resulting from the interaction between a heterostrophic vortex pair in vertical ascent and a clean free surface are described. The flow features at the scar-striation interface (a constellation of whirls or coherent vortical structures) are investigated through the use of flow visualization, a motion analysis system, and the vortex-element method. The results suggest that the striations are a consequence of the short wavelength instability of the vortex pair and the helical instability of the tightly spiralled regions of vorticity. The whirls result from the interaction of striations with the surface vorticity. The whirl-merging is responsible for the reverse energy cascade leading to the formation and longevity of larger vortical structures amidst a rapidly decaying turbulent field.List of symbols A _c Area of a vortex core (Fig. 6b) - AR Aspect ratio of the delta wing model - B base width of delta wing - b ₀ initial separation of the vortex couple - d ₀ depth at which the vortex pair is generated - c average whirl spacing in the x-direction - E energy density - Fr Froude number ( ) - g gravitational acceleration - L length of the scar band - L _ko length of the Kelvin oval - N _w number of whirls in each scar band - P _c Perimeter of a vortex core - q surface velocity vector - r _c core size of the whirl ( = 2A _c/P _c) - Re Reynolds number ( = ) - Rnd a random number - s inboard edge of the scar front (Fig. 6 a) - t time - u velocity in the x-direction - velocity in the y-direction - V _b velocity imposed on a scar by the vortex couple (Fig. 6 a) - V ₀ initial mutual-induction velocity of the vortex couple (=₀/2b ₀) - V _t tangential velocity at the edge of the whirl core - w width of the scar front (Fig. 6 a) - z complex variable - z _k position of the whirl center - half included angle of V-shaped scar band - wave number - _m initial mean circulation of the whirls - ₀ initial circulation of the vortex pair - _w circulation of a whirl - _min minimum survival strength of a whirl - t time step - gDz increment of z - gD change in vorticity - cut-off distance in velocity calculations - critical merging distance - curvature of the surface - wavelength - kinematic viscosity - angular velocity of a whirl core     

Bifurcation of an elliptic vortex ring

Time-dependent vorticity fields of elliptic vortex rings of aspect ratios 2, 3 and 4 were measured by means of hot-wire anemometry. The time evolution of their vorticity fields was analyzed and the processes of vortex ring formation, advection, interaction and decay, and the mechanism of vortex bifurcation are studied. The following crosslinking model is proposed: A thick vortical region composed of many equivalent vortex filaments with distributed cores is initially formed at the orifice and they behave as inviscid filaments. The elliptic ring deforms and the end parts of its major axis get closer. Then, the vortex filaments interact at the touching point and the ring partially bifurcates. Almost simultaneously, turbulent spot appears at this point, and propagates around the ring cross section, thus preventing further bifurcation. And it becomes a turbulent blob. This model is also supported by numerical simulation by a high-order vortex method and the Navier-Stokes solution.     

Hierarchical instability of a vortex ring array in multipulse laser-matter interactions

In XeCl excimer Laser interactions with Co-coated steel surfaces, we have seemingly realized a quasi-linear array of vortex rings. These form from instabilities on an array of vortex filaments which emerge and then lead to a series of loops. Finally the collapse-and-reconnection process yields a cascade of nearby vortex rings. Since the filament array is subjected to randomly distributed local multipolar strains, unstable waves can develop on the vortex rings. These deformed shapes are frozen permanently by ultrafast cooling, following the last laser pulse. Using a modal analysis, an attempt is made to relate the wave structures to a parametric resonance instability which is caused by dipolar and a quadrupolar fields. Multipulse laser-matter interactions are thus capable of nonselective excitation of vortex ring instabilities of various sizes and various modal structures.     

Normal and oblique collisions of a vortex ring with a wall

The oblique collision of a vortex ring with a solid wall, atRe=/=1389, has been analysed by the direct simulation of the Navier-Stokes equations in Cartesian coordinates. In accordance with a previous experimental study [1], the secondary vorticity produced at the wall is organized into a loop-like vortex in the region of the ring furthest away from the wall. As the ring approaches the wall, the region closest is subjected to a high rate of stretching which increases the vorticity in the core. The vorticity gradients along the core generate bi-helical vortex lines continually displaced towards the region of the ring furthest away from the wall. The analysis of the vorticity and straining fields revealed that the pressure gradient along the core is responsible for the convective motion that displaces these vortex lines and accumulates secondary vorticity in the region far from the wall. This vorticity rolls up and forms a secondary structure which by self-induction moves away from the wall.The fundamental role of the differential stretching has been demonstrated by comparing the case of oblique collision with that of normal collision and with the collision of a two-dimensional vortex pair with an oblique wall.

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Sommario L'interazione di un vortice ad anello con una parete obliqua, aRe=1389, è stata analizzata mediante la simulazione diretta delle equazioni di Navier-Stokes in coordinate cartesiane. In accordo con un precedente esperimento [1] è stato evidenziato che la vorticità secondaria, prodotta alla parete, si organizza in una strutura vorticosa a loop nella regione dell'anello più lontana dalla parete. Quando il vortice si avvicina alla parete, la parte più vicina è soggetta ad un'elevata deformazione che aumenta il valore della vorticità nel core. La distribuzione non uniforme di vorticità lungo il core del vortice genera delle linee di vorticità elicoidali che vengono transportate verso la regione dell'anello più lontana dalla parete. L'analisi dei campi di vorticità e di deformazione ha rivelato che il gradiente di pressione, dovuto al campo di deformazione non uniforme lungo il core del vortice, è responsabile di un moto convettivo che trasporta le linee di vorticità ed accumula la vorticità secondaria nella regione del vortice più lontana dalla parete, dove la struttura secondaria viene generata.Il ruolo fondamentale della deformazione non uniforme è stato evidenziato mediante il confronto della collisione obliqua coni casi di collisione normale e di collisione di una coppia di vortici bidimensionali con una parete obliqua.

     

Loss of energy during the motion of a vortex ring

Experimental estimates of energy and energy dissipation of a vortex ring are presented. The energy losses during the motion of a vortex ring and a streamlined solid are compared. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 24–30, January–February, 2008.     

Acoustic emission from interaction of a vortex ring with a sphere

Acoustic waves emitted by a vortex ring interacting with a fixed solid sphere are studied experimentally and theoretically. The experiments are carried out for two kindsof vortex-sphere arrangement: (A) a vortex ring passes over the sphere, and (B) a vortex ring passes by the sphere. The vortex motion is examined optically by means of a photosensor system, and the pressure signals of the emitted wave are detected by 1/2-inch microphones in the far field. In case A, the measured diameter of the vortex ring after passing the sphere increases from its initial diameter. The observed acoustic wave is dominated mainly by a dipole emission, and some contribution from a quadrupole radiation is present. In case B, the emitted wave is characterized by a rotating dipole emission in which the dipole axis rotates as the vortex position changes relative to the sphere.