Vortex

In fluid dynamics, a vortex (plural vortices/vortexes)[1][2] is a region

in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may
be straight or curved.[3][4] Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be
observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in the wake of a boat, and the
winds surrounding a tropical cyclone, tornado or dust devil.

Vortices are a major component of turbulent flow. The distribution of

velocity, vorticity (the curl of the flow velocity), as well as the concept
of circulation are used to characterise vortices. In most vortices, the
fluid flow velocity is greatest next to its axis and decreases in inverse
proportion to the distance from the axis. Vortex created by the passage of an
aircraft wing, revealed by colored
In the absence of external forces, viscous friction within the fluid smoke
tends to organise the flow into a collection of irrotational vortices,
possibly superimposed to larger-scale flows, including larger-scale
vortices. Once formed, vortices can move, stretch, twist, and interact
in complex ways. A moving vortex carries some angular and linear
momentum, energy, and mass, with it.

Contents
Properties Vortices formed by milk when poured
into a cup of coffee
Vorticity
Vortex types
Irrotational vortices
Rotational vortices
Vortex formation on boundaries
Vortex geometry
Pressure in a vortex
Evolution
Further examples
Summary
A Kármán vortex street is demonstrated in
See also
this photo, as winds from the west blow
References onto clouds that have formed over the
Notes mountains in the desert. This
Other phenomenon observed from ground level
is extremely rare, as most cloud-related
External links Kármán vortex street activity is viewed
from space

Properties
Vorticity

A key concept in the dynamics of vortices is the vorticity, a vector

that describes the local rotary motion at a point in the fluid, as would
be perceived by an observer that moves along with it. Conceptually,
the vorticity could be observed by placing a tiny rough ball at the
point in question, free to move with the fluid, and observing how it
rotates about its center. The direction of the vorticity vector is defined
to be the direction of the axis of rotation of this imaginary ball
(according to the right-hand rule) while its length is twice the ball's
The Crow instability of a jet
angular velocity. Mathematically, the vorticity is defined as the curl
aeroplane's contrail visually
(or rotational) of the velocity field of the fluid, usually denoted by
demonstrates the vortex created in
and expressed by the vector analysis formula , where is the
[5] the atmosphere (gas fluid medium)
nabla operator and is the local flow velocity. by the passage of the aircraft.

The local rotation measured by the vorticity must not be confused

with the angular velocity vector of that portion of the fluid with
respect to the external environment or to any fixed axis. In a vortex, in particular, may be opposite to the
mean angular velocity vector of the fluid relative to the vortex's axis.

Vortex types

In theory, the speed u of the particles (and, therefore, the vorticity) in a vortex may vary with the distance r
from the axis in many ways. There are two important special cases, however:

If the fluid rotates like a rigid body – that is, if the angular
rotational velocity Ω is uniform, so that u increases
proportionally to the distance r from the axis – a tiny ball
carried by the flow would also rotate about its center as if it
were part of that rigid body. In such a flow, the vorticity is
the same everywhere: its direction is parallel to the rotation
axis, and its magnitude is equal to twice the uniform
angular velocity Ω of the fluid around the center of rotation.

A rigid-body vortex

If the particle speed u is inversely proportional to the

distance r from the axis, then the imaginary test ball would
not rotate over itself; it would maintain the same orientation
while moving in a circle around the vortex axis. In this case
the vorticity is zero at any point not on that axis, and the
flow is said to be irrotational.

An irrotational vortex
Irrotational vortices

In the absence of external forces, a vortex usually evolves fairly quickly

toward the irrotational flow pattern, where the flow velocity u is inversely
proportional to the distance r. Irrotational vortices are also called free vortices.

For an irrotational vortex, the circulation is zero along any closed contour that
does not enclose the vortex axis; and has a fixed value, Γ, for any contour that
does enclose the axis once.[6] The tangential component of the particle
velocity is then . The angular momentum per unit mass relative to
the vortex axis is therefore constant, .

The ideal irrotational vortex flow in free space is not physically realizable,
since it would imply that the particle speed (and hence the force needed to
keep particles in their circular paths) would grow without bound as one
approaches the vortex axis. Indeed, in real vortices there is always a core Pathlines of fluid particles
region surrounding the axis where the particle velocity stops increasing and around the axis (dashed
then decreases to zero as r goes to zero. Within that region, the flow is no line) of an ideal irrotational
longer irrotational: the vorticity becomes non-zero, with direction roughly vortex. (See animation)
parallel to the vortex axis. The Rankine vortex is a model that assumes a rigid-
body rotational flow where r is less than a fixed distance r0 , and irrotational
flow outside that core regions.

In a viscous fluid, irrotational flow contains viscous dissipation everywhere, yet there are no net viscous
forces, only viscous stresses.[7] Due to the dissipation, this means that sustaining an irrotational viscous vortex
requires continuous input of work at the core (for example, by steadily turning a cylinder at the core). In free
space there is no energy input at the core, and thus the compact vorticity held in the core will naturally diffuse
outwards, converting the core to a gradually-slowing and gradually-growing rigid-body flow, surrounded by
the original irrotational flow. Such a decaying irrotational vortex has an exact solution of the viscous Navier–
Stokes equations, known as a Lamb–Oseen vortex.

Rotational vortices

A rotational vortex – a vortex that rotates in the same way as a rigid

body – cannot exist indefinitely in that state except through the
application of some extra force, that is not generated by the fluid
motion itself. It has non-zero vorticity everywhere outside the core.
Rotational vortices are also called rigid-body vortices or forced
vortices.

For example, if a water bucket is spun at constant angular speed w

about its vertical axis, the water will eventually rotate in rigid-body
fashion. The particles will then move along circles, with velocity u
equal to wr.[6] In that case, the free surface of the water will assume a
parabolic shape.
Saturn's north polar vortex
In this situation, the rigid rotating enclosure provides an extra force,
namely an extra pressure gradient in the water, directed inwards, that
prevents transition of the rigid-body flow to the irrotational state.

Vortex formation on boundaries

Vortex structures are defined by their vorticity, the local rotation rate of fluid particles. They can be formed via
the phenomenon known as boundary layer separation which can occur when a fluid moves over a surface and
experiences a rapid acceleration from the fluid velocity to zero due to the no-slip condition. This rapid negative
acceleration creates a boundary layer which causes a local rotation of fluid at the wall (i.e. vorticity) which is
referred to as the wall shear rate. The thickness of this boundary layer is proportional to (where v is the
free stream fluid velocity and t is time).

If the diameter or thickness of the vessel or fluid is less than the boundary layer thickness then the boundary
layer will not separate and vortices will not form. However, when the boundary layer does grow beyond this
critical boundary layer thickness then separation will occur which will generate vortices.

This boundary layer separation can also occur in the presence of combatting pressure gradients (i.e. a pressure
that develops downstream). This is present in curved surfaces and general geometry changes like a convex
surface. A unique example of severe geometric changes is at the trailing edge of a bluff body where the fluid
flow deceleration, and therefore boundary layer and vortex formation, is located.

Another form of vortex formation on a boundary is when fluid flows perpendicularly into a wall and creates a
splash effect. The velocity streamlines are immediately deflected and decelerated so that the boundary layer
separates and forms a toroidal vortex ring.[8]

Vortex geometry

In a stationary vortex, the typical streamline (a line that is everywhere tangent to the flow velocity vector) is a
closed loop surrounding the axis; and each vortex line (a line that is everywhere tangent to the vorticity vector)
is roughly parallel to the axis. A surface that is everywhere tangent to both flow velocity and vorticity is called
a vortex tube. In general, vortex tubes are nested around the axis of rotation. The axis itself is one of the
vortex lines, a limiting case of a vortex tube with zero diameter.

According to Helmholtz's theorems, a vortex line cannot start or end in the fluid – except momentarily, in non-
steady flow, while the vortex is forming or dissipating. In general, vortex lines (in particular, the axis line) are
either closed loops or end at the boundary of the fluid. A whirlpool is an example of the latter, namely a vortex
in a body of water whose axis ends at the free surface. A vortex tube whose vortex lines are all closed will be
a closed torus-like surface.

A newly created vortex will promptly extend and bend so as to eliminate any open-ended vortex lines. For
example, when an airplane engine is started, a vortex usually forms ahead of each propeller, or the turbofan of
each jet engine. One end of the vortex line is attached to the engine, while the other end usually stretches out
and bends until it reaches the ground.

When vortices are made visible by smoke or ink trails, they may seem to have spiral pathlines or streamlines.
However, this appearance is often an illusion and the fluid particles are moving in closed paths. The spiral
streaks that are taken to be streamlines are in fact clouds of the marker fluid that originally spanned several
vortex tubes and were stretched into spiral shapes by the non-uniform flow velocity distribution.

Pressure in a vortex

The fluid motion in a vortex creates a dynamic pressure (in addition to any hydrostatic pressure) that is lowest
in the core region, closest to the axis, and increases as one moves away from it, in accordance with Bernoulli's
principle. One can say that it is the gradient of this pressure that forces the fluid to follow a curved path around
the axis.
In a rigid-body vortex flow of a fluid with constant density, the dynamic
pressure is proportional to the square of the distance r from the axis. In a
constant gravity field, the free surface of the liquid, if present, is a concave
paraboloid.

In an irrotational vortex flow with constant fluid density and cylindrical

K
symmetry, the dynamic pressure varies as P∞ − 2 , where P∞ is the limiting
r
pressure infinitely far from the axis. This formula provides another constraint
for the extent of the core, since the pressure cannot be negative. The free
surface (if present) dips sharply near the axis line, with depth inversely
proportional to r2. The shape formed by the free surface is called a
hyperboloid, or "Gabriel's Horn" (by Evangelista Torricelli).

The core of a vortex in air is sometimes visible because water vapor A plughole vortex
condenses as the low pressure of the core causes adiabatic cooling; the funnel
of a tornado is an example. When a vortex line ends at a boundary surface,
the reduced pressure may also draw matter from that surface into the core. For example, a dust devil is a
column of dust picked up by the core of an air vortex attached to the ground. A vortex that ends at the free
surface of a body of water (like the whirlpool that often forms over a bathtub drain) may draw a column of air
down the core. The forward vortex extending from a jet engine of a parked airplane can suck water and small
stones into the core and then into the engine.

Evolution

Vortices need not be steady-state features; they can move and change shape. In a moving vortex, the particle
paths are not closed, but are open, loopy curves like helices and cycloids. A vortex flow might also be
combined with a radial or axial flow pattern. In that case the streamlines and pathlines are not closed curves
but spirals or helices, respectively. This is the case in tornadoes and in drain whirlpools. A vortex with helical
streamlines is said to be solenoidal.

As long as the effects of viscosity and diffusion are negligible, the fluid in a moving vortex is carried along
with it. In particular, the fluid in the core (and matter trapped by it) tends to remain in the core as the vortex
moves about. This is a consequence of Helmholtz's second theorem. Thus vortices (unlike surface waves and
pressure waves) can transport mass, energy and momentum over considerable distances compared to their size,
with surprisingly little dispersion. This effect is demonstrated by smoke rings and exploited in vortex ring toys
and guns.

Two or more vortices that are approximately parallel and circulating in the same direction will attract and
eventually merge to form a single vortex, whose circulation will equal the sum of the circulations of the
constituent vortices. For example, an airplane wing that is developing lift will create a sheet of small vortices at
its trailing edge. These small vortices merge to form a single wingtip vortex, less than one wing chord
downstream of that edge. This phenomenon also occurs with other active airfoils, such as propeller blades. On
the other hand, two parallel vortices with opposite circulations (such as the two wingtip vortices of an airplane)
tend to remain separate.

Vortices contain substantial energy in the circular motion of the fluid. In an ideal fluid this energy can never be
dissipated and the vortex would persist forever. However, real fluids exhibit viscosity and this dissipates
energy very slowly from the core of the vortex. It is only through dissipation of a vortex due to viscosity that a
vortex line can end in the fluid, rather than at the boundary of the fluid.
Further examples
In the hydrodynamic interpretation of the behaviour of
electromagnetic fields, the acceleration of electric fluid in a
particular direction creates a positive vortex of magnetic
fluid. This in turn creates around itself a corresponding
negative vortex of electric fluid. Exact solutions to classical
nonlinear magnetic equations include the Landau–Lifshitz
equation, the continuum Heisenberg model, the Ishimori
equation, and the nonlinear Schrödinger equation.
Bubble rings are underwater vortex rings whose core traps The visible core of a vortex formed
a ring of bubbles, or a single donut-shaped bubble. They when a C-17 uses high engine power
are sometimes created by dolphins and whales.
at slow speed on a wet runway.
The lifting force of aircraft wings, propeller blades, sails,
and other airfoils can be explained by the creation of a
vortex superimposed on the flow of air past the wing.
Aerodynamic drag can be explained in large part by the
formation of vortices in the surrounding fluid that carry
away energy from the moving body.
Large whirlpools can be produced by ocean tides in certain
straits or bays. Examples are Charybdis of classical
mythology in the Straits of Messina, Italy; the Naruto
whirlpools of Nankaido, Japan; and the Maelstrom at
Lofoten, Norway. Kármán vortex streets formed off the
island of Tristan da Cunha
Vortices in the Earth's atmosphere are important
phenomena for meteorology. They include mesocyclones
on the scale of a few miles, tornadoes, waterspouts, and
hurricanes. These vortices are often driven by temperature and humidity variations with
altitude. The sense of rotation of hurricanes is influenced by the Earth's rotation. Another
example is the Polar vortex, a persistent, large-scale cyclone centered near the Earth's poles,
in the middle and upper troposphere and the stratosphere.
Vortices are prominent features of the atmospheres of other planets. They include the
permanent Great Red Spot on Jupiter, the intermittent Great Dark Spot on Neptune, the polar
vortices of Venus, the Martian dust devils and the North Polar Hexagon of Saturn.
Sunspots are dark regions on the Sun's visible surface (photosphere) marked by a lower
temperature than its surroundings, and intense magnetic activity.
The accretion disks of black holes and other massive gravitational sources.
Taylor–Couette flow occurs in a fluid between two nested cylinders, one rotating, the other
fixed.

Summary

In the dynamics of fluid, a vortex is fluid that revolves around the axis line. This fluid might be curved or
straight. Vortices form from stirred fluids: they might be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools, in the wake of a
boat or the winds around a tornado or dust devil.

Vortices are an important part of turbulent flow. Vortices can otherwise be known as a circular motion of a
liquid. In the cases of the absence of forces, the liquid settles. This makes the water stay still instead of moving.

When they are created, vortices can move, stretch, twist and interact in complicated ways. When a vortex is
moving, sometimes, it can affect an angular position.
For an example, if a water bucket is rotated or spun constantly, it will rotate around an invisible line called the
axis line. The rotation moves around in circles. In this example the rotation of the bucket creates extra force.

The reason that the vortices can change shape is the fact that they have open particle paths. This can create a
moving vortex. Examples of this fact are the shapes of tornadoes and drain whirlpools.

When two or more vortices are close together they can merge to make a vortex. Vortices also hold energy in its
rotation of the fluid. If the energy is never removed, it would consist of circular motion forever.

See also
Artificial gravity Shower-curtain effect
Batchelor vortex Strouhal number
Biot–Savart law Vile vortex
Coordinate rotation Vortex engine
Cyclonic separation Vortex tube
Eddy Vortex tunnel
Gyre Vortex cooler
Helmholtz's theorems VORTEX projects
History of fluid mechanics Vortex shedding
Horseshoe vortex Vortex stretching
Hurricane Vortex-induced vibration
Kármán vortex street Vorticity
Kelvin–Helmholtz instability Whirly tube
Quantum vortex Wormhole
Rankine vortex

References

Notes
1. "vortex" (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/vortex). Oxford
Dictionaries Online (ODO). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
2. "vortex" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vortex). Merriam-Webster Online. Merriam-
Webster, Inc. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
3. Ting, L. (1991). Viscous Vortical Flows. Lecture notes in physics. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-
540-53713-7.
4. Kida, Shigeo (2001). Life, Structure, and Dynamical Role of Vortical Motion in Turbulence (htt
p://www.igf.fuw.edu.pl/IUTAM/ABSTRACTS/Kida.pdf) (PDF). IUTAMim Symposium on Tubes,
Sheets and Singularities in Fluid Dynamics. Zakopane, Poland.
5. Vallis, Geoffrey (1999). Geostrophic Turbulence: The Macroturbulence of the Atmosphere and
Ocean Lecture Notes (https://web.archive.org/web/20131228115711/http://www.princeton.edu/
~gkv/geoturb/turbch.pdf) (PDF). Lecture notes. Princeton University. p. 1. Archived from the
original (http://www.princeton.edu/~gkv/geoturb/turbch.pdf) (PDF) on 2013-12-28. Retrieved
2012-09-26.
6. Clancy 1975, sub-section 7.5
7. Sirakov, B. T.; Greitzer, E. M.; Tan, C. S. (2005). "A note on irrotational viscous flow". Physics of
Fluids. 17 (10): 108102–108102–3. Bibcode:2005PhFl...17j8102S (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.ed
 u/abs/2005PhFl...17j8102S). doi:10.1063/1.2104550 (https://doi.org/10.1063%2F1.2104550).
ISSN 1070-6631 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1070-6631).
8. Kheradvar, Arash; Pedrizzetti, Gianni (2012), "Vortex Dynamics" (http://link.springer.com/10.100
7/978-1-4471-2288-3_2), Vortex Formation in the Cardiovascular System, London: Springer
London, pp. 17–44, doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-2288-3_2 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-1-4471-
2288-3_2), ISBN 978-1-4471-2287-6, retrieved 2021-03-16

Other
Loper, David E. (November 1966). An analysis of confined magnetohydrodynamic vortex flows
(https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670004091_1967004091.pdf) (PDF)
(NASA contractor report NASA CR-646). Washington: National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. LCCN 67060315 (https://lccn.loc.gov/67060315).
Batchelor, G.K. (1967). An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics. Cambridge Univ. Press. Ch. 7 et
seq. ISBN 9780521098175.
Falkovich, G. (2011). Fluid Mechanics, a short course for physicists. Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 978-1-107-00575-4.
Clancy, L.J. (1975). Aerodynamics. London: Pitman Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-0-273-
01120-0.
De La Fuente Marcos, C.; Barge, P. (2001). "The effect of long-lived vortical circulation on the
dynamics of dust particles in the mid-plane of a protoplanetary disc" (https://doi.org/10.1046%2
Fj.1365-8711.2001.04228.x). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 323 (3): 601–
614. Bibcode:2001MNRAS.323..601D (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001MNRAS.323..60
1D). doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04228.x (https://doi.org/10.1046%2Fj.1365-8711.2001.042
28.x).

External links
Optical Vortices (http://www.cse.salford.ac.uk/profiles/gsmcdonald/Solitons/Optical_Vortex_Soli
tons.php)
Video of two water vortex rings colliding (https://web.archive.org/web/20051209114554/http://w
ww.eng.nus.edu.sg/mpelimtt/collision.mpg) (MPEG)
Chapter 3 Rotational Flows: Circulation and Turbulence (https://web.archive.org/web/2006090
5192451/http://maxwell.ucdavis.edu/~cole/phy9b/notes/fluids_ch3.pdf)
Vortical Flow Research Lab (http://mit.edu/vfrl/www/) (MIT) – Study of flows found in nature and
part of the Department of Ocean Engineering.

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