Interaction of impulsively generated vortex pairs with bodies

Abstract

A vortex pair, impulsively generated from a planar nozzle, is shown to have a degree of vorticity concentration in good agreement with inviscid theory, providing well-posed initial conditions for interaction with basic types of bodies (cylinders and plates). The scale of these bodies ranges from the same order as, to over an order of magnitude smaller than, the scale (distance between centres) of the incident vortex pair.The fundamental case of a (primary) vortex pair symmetrically incident upon a very small cylinder shows rapid growth of a secondary vortex pair. These secondary vortices quickly attain a circulation of the same order as that of the corresponding primary vortices within a distance smaller than the lengthscale of the primary vortex pair. At this location, the temporal variation of integrated vorticity of primary and secondary vortices attains a maximum simultaneously. This zero phase shift between arrival of vorticity maxima provides the basis for formation of counter-rotating, primary–secondary vortex pairs, where both the primary and secondary vortices move at the same phase speed.Visualization shows that the mode of secondary vortex formation is highly sensitive to the degree of symmetry of the initial encounter of the incident vortex pair with the body. The symmetrical mode of (in-phase) secondary vortex formation shows very rapid growth of large-scale secondary vortices; their development is relatively independent of the particulars of body shape and scale. On the other hand, the antisymmetrical mode takes two basic forms: large-scale secondary vortex formation, with the phase shift between their formation determined by the lengthscale of the body; and small-scale, antisymmetrical shedding of secondary vortices from the body occurring for a body lengthscale an order of magnitude smaller than that of the incident vortex pair. Correspondingly, there are several types of distortion of the cores and trajectories of the primary (incident) vortices.