Abstract

An experimental study of the steady‐state cyclonic vortex from an isolated heat source in a rotating fluid layer is described. The structure of the laboratory cyclonic vortex is similar to the typical structure of tropical cyclones from observational data and numerical modelling, including secondary flows in the boundary layer. Different constraints of the steady‐state hurricane‐like vortex were studied. The three main dimensional parameters that define the vortex structure for a fixed geometry—heating flux, rotation rate and viscosity—were varied independently. Characteristics of the steady‐state cyclonic vortex were measured experimentally for different values of kinematic viscosity (from 5 to 25 cSt), rotation rate (from 0.04 to 0.17 rad s−1) and heat flux (from 1 to 4.6 kW m−2). The crucial importance for the vortex formation has angular momentum exchange in the viscous boundary layer. It was shown that viscosity is one of the main parameters that define the steady‐state vortex structure. Increasing the kinematic viscosity may substantially suppress the cyclonic motion for fixed values of buoyancy flux and rotation rate. Strong competition between buoyancy and rotation provides the optimal ratio of the heating flux and rotation rate for achieving a cyclonic vortex of maximal intensity. It was found that relatively small variation of the rotation rate for the fluids with low kinematic viscosity may remarkably change the cyclonic vortex structure and intensity.

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