Vortex-dominated flow with viscous core structure

Abstract

Recent theoretical studies of vortex-dominated flows are reviewed with special emphasis on those for which the viscous core structures play an important role. The problems to be described are: The interaction and merging of two-dimensional vortices and of curved vortex filaments, the roll-up and decay of trailing far wakes, and the initiation of vortex breakdown. The analysis utilizes finite-difference solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations complemented by asymptotic expansion techniques.