Introduction

In this chapter we address three-dimensional flows in which streamwise vorticity is a prominent feature. Three main topics are discussed. The first, and principal, subject falls under the general label of secondary flows, cross-flow plane (secondary) circulations which occur in flows that were parallel at some upstream station. The second is the enhancement of mixing by embedded streamwise vorticity and the accompanying motions normal to the bulk flow direction (see for example Bushnell (1992)). The third is the connection between vorticity generation and fluid impulse.

The different topics are linked in at least three ways. First, the class of fluid motions described are truly three-dimensional. Second, focus on the vortex structure in these flows is a way to increase physical insight. The perspective of the chapter is that the flows of interest are rotational and three-dimensional, and the appropriate tools for capturing their quantitative behavior are three-dimensional numerical simulations (e.g. Launder (1995)). Results from such computations, as well as from experiments, are used to illustrate the overall features. To complement detailed simulations and experiments, however, it is often helpful to have a simplified description of the motion which can guide the interrogation and scope of the computations, enable understanding of why different effects are seen, and suggest scaling for different mechanisms. The ideas about vorticity evolution and vortex structure, introduced in Chapter 3, provide a skeleton for this type of description.