Flow Past a Vortex

Consider a uniform stream, U

flowing in the x direction past a vortex of strength
K with the center at the origin. By superposition the combined stream function is

stream
+
vortex
U

rsin K lnr
The velocity components of this flow are given by
v
r

1
r

cos v

r
U

sin +
K
r
etting
v
r
and
v
! ", we find the stagnation point at ! #"$, r ! a ! K% U

or &x,y' ! &",a'.
(t this point the countercloc)wise vortex velocity, K%r, exactly cancels the free
steam velocity, U

. *igure +., in the text shows a plot of the streamlines for this
flow.
An Infinite Row of Vortices
Consider an infinite row of vortices of e-ual strength K and e-ual spacing a as
shown in *ig. +..a. ( single vortex, i , has a stream function given by

i
Klnr
i
and the total infinite row has a combined stream function of

Klnr
i
i1

This infinite sum can also be expressed as

1
2
K ln
1
2
cosh
2 y
a
cosh
2 x
a


_
,



1
]
1
VIII -
8
*ig. +.. uperposition of
vortices
&a' an infinite row of e-ual
strength vortices/
&b' the streamline pattern for part
a/
&c' vortex sheet, part a viewed
from afar.
The resulting left and right flow above and below the row of vortices is given by
u

y
y >a
t
K
a
The Vortex Sheet
The flow pattern of *ig. +..b when viewed from a long distance will appear as the
uniform left and right flows shown in *ig. +..c. The vortices are so closely pac)ed
together that they appear to be a continuous sheet. The strength of the vortex sheet
is given by

2K
a
ince, in general, the circulation is related to the strength, , by d ! dx, the
strength, , of a vortex sheet is e-ual to the circulation per unit length, d %dx.
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9
Plane Flow Past Closed-Body Shapes
0arious types of external flows over a closed1body can be constructed by
superimposing a uniform stream with sources, sin)s, and vortices.
Key Point2 The body shape will be closed only if the net source of the outflow
e-uals the net sin) inflow. Two examples of this are presented below.
The Rankine !al
( 3an)ine 4val is a cylindrical
shape which is long compared to
its height. 5t is formed by a
source1sin) pair aligned parallel to
a uniform stream.
The individual flows used to
produce the final result and the
combined flow field are shown in
*ig. +.#. The combined stream
function is given by
U

y mtan
1
2a y
x
2
+ y
2
a
2
or
U

rsin + m
1

2
( )
*ig. +.# The 3an)ine 4val
The oval shaped closed body is the streamline,
0
. tagnation points occur at
the front and rear of the oval,
x t L, y 0
. 6oints of maximum velocity and
minimum pressure occur at the shoulders,
x 0, y t h
. Key geometric and
flow parameters of the 3an)ine 4val can be expressed as follows2
h
a
cot
h / a
2m / U

a ( )
L
a
1+
2m
U

a



_
,

1/ 2
VIII -
10
u
max
U

1 +
2m/ U

a ( )
1 + h
2
/ a
2
(s the value of the parameter m / U

a ( ) is increased from 7ero, the oval shape

increases in si7e and transforms from a flat plate to a circular cylinder at the
limiting case of m / U

a ( ) .
pecific values of these parameters are presented in Table +.8 for four different
values of the dimensionless vortex strength, K / U

a ( ).
Ta"le #$% Rankine-!al Para&eters
m / U

a ( )
h / a L / a L / h u
max
/ U

"." "." 8." 8."

"."8 ".98 8.8" 9:..# 8.":"
".8 ".:,9 8."#; <.8,# 8.8+.
8." 8.9". 8..9: 8.9:, 8..9#
8"." <.<9; <.<;+ 8."99 8.#,+
8"." 8<.89" 8<.8.. 8.""9 8.##.

8.""" :."""
Flow Past a Circ'lar Cylinder with Circ'lation
5t is seen from Table +.8 that as source strength m becomes large, the 3an)ine
4val becomes a large circle, much greater in diameter than the source1sin) spacing
:a. 0iewed, from the scale of the cylinder, this is e-uivalent to a uniform stream
plus a doublet. To add circulation without changing the shape of the cylinder we
place a vortex at the doublet center. *or these conditions the stream function is
given by
U

sin r
a
2
r



_
,

K ln
r
a
Typical resulting flows are shown in *ig. +.8" for increasing values of non1
dimensional vortex strength
K / U

a
.
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11
*ig. +.8" *low past a cylinder with circulation for values of
K / U

a
of &a' ", &b' 8.", &c' :.", and &d' 9."
(gain, the streamline
0
is corresponds to the circle r ! a. (s the counter1
cloc)wise circulation
2 K
increases, velocities below the cylinder increase
and velocities above the cylinder decrease &could this be related to the path of a
curve ball?'. 5n polar coordinates, the velocity components are given by
v
r

1
r

cos 1
a
2
r
2



_
,

v

r
U

sin 1 +
a
2
r
2



_
,

+
K
r
*or small K, two stagnation points appear on the surface at angles

s
or for which
sin
s

K
2U

a
Thus for K ! ",

s
! " and 8+"
o
. *or
K / U

a
! 8,

s
! 9" and 8;"
o
. *igure
+.8"c is the limiting case for which with
K / U

a
! :,

s
! #"
o
and the two
stagnation points meet at the top of the cylinder.
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12
The K'tta-(o'kowski )ift Theore&
The development in the text shows that from inviscid flow theory,
The lift per unit depth of any cylinder of any shape immersed in a
uniform stream e-uals to
U

where is the total net circulation

contained within the body shape. The direction of the lift is #"
o
from
the stream direction, rotating opposite to the circulation.
This is the well )nown Kutta1=ou)ows)i lift theorem.
*or the cylindrical flows shown in *ig. +.8" b to d, there is a downward force, or
negative lift, proportional to the free stream velocity and vortex strength. The
surface pressure distribution is given by

P
s
P

+
1
2
U

2
14sin
2
+4sin
2
( )
where ! K % &U

a' and 6

is the free stream pressure. *or a cylinder of

width b into the paper, the drag > is given by

DP
s
P

()
0
2

cosbad
The lift force ? is normal to the free stream and is e-ual to the sum of the vertical
pressure forces &for inviscid flow' and is determined by

LP
s
P

()
0
2

sinbad
ubstituting 6
s
1 6

from the previous e-uation the lift is given by

L
1
2
U

2
4K
aU

basin
2
0
2

dU

2K ()b
or

L
b
U

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