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The impact of a vortex ring on a wall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

J. D. A. Walker ,
C. R. Smith ,
A. W. Cerra  and
T. L. Doligalski
J. D. A. Walker
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
C. R. Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
A. W. Cerra
Affiliation:
Steam Turbine Division, General Electric Corp., Boston, MA, USA
T. L. Doligalski
Affiliation:
US Army Research Office, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
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Abstract

The flow induced by a vortex ring approaching a plane wall on a trajectory normal to the wall is investigated for an incompressible fluid which is otherwise stagnant. The detailed characteristics of the interaction of the ring with the flow near the surface have been observed experimentally for a wide variety of laminar rings, using dye in water to visualize the flow in the ring as well as near the plane surface. Numerical solutions are obtained for the trajectory of the ring as well as for the unsteady boundary-layer flow that develops on the wall. The experimental and theoretical results show that an unsteady separation develops in the boundary-layer flow, in the form of a secondary ring attached to the wall. A period of explosive boundary-layer growth then ensues and a strong viscous-inviscid interaction occurs in the form of the ejection of the secondary vortex ring from the boundary layer. The primary ring then interacts with the secondary ring and in some cases was observed to induce the formation of a third, tertiary, ring near the wall. The details of this process are investigated over a wide Reynolds number range. The results clearly show how one vortex ring can produce another, through an unsteady interaction with a viscous flow near the wall.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 181 , August 1987 , pp. 99 - 140
Copyright
© 1987 Cambridge University Press

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