Abstract
A distributed vortex in a stratified fluid is treated using numerical simulations in two dimensions. The distributed vortex allows the density field and velocity field to evolve together, as happens in real flows behind lifting surfaces. The numerical simulations treat the anelastic equations using a spectral method in space with periodic horizontal directions and a projection method in time using the third-order Adams-Bashforth method. The primary parameter is the Froude number. For large Froude number, the distributed vorticity quickly rolls up and forms a vortex pair, approximately matching cases initiated as a fully developed vortex pair. For small Froude number, the vortices disintegrate into internal waves. The results indicate that the transition Froude number with a distributed vortex is larger than cases initiated with a vortex pair.
9 More- Received 10 April 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.064803
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