Time evolution of dimethyl carbinol in water vortex rings

Abstract

The paper is concerned with the experimental study of the time evolution of a single laminar vortex ring generated at the interface between water and dimethyl carbinol. The experiments were performed by the submerged injection with a constant rate of dimethyl carbinol (isopropyl alcohol) in a water tank. The dynamics of the vortex formation was recorded at 1000 fps with a Photron Fastcam SA1 camera, equipped with a microscopic Edmund Optics objective. A symmetrical buoyant vortex ring with an elongated topology was observed at the interface between the two immiscible liquids. The analyses of the time dependence of the vortex rings disclosed three regions for the evolution of the interface: one dominated by inertia force, a transition region and a third region, dominated by buoyancy force.