Authors: T S Pottebaum M Gharib
Publish Date: 2004/03/25
Volume: 37, Issue: 1, Pages: 87-94
Abstract
The vortex ring formation process of a starting buoyant plume was studied experimentally using digital particle image thermometry and velocimetry DPITV The vortex ring was observed to pinchoff or become disconnected from the trailing plume Pinchoff occurred at nondimensional times or formation numbers between 44 and 49 The observed pinchoff process is consistent with an explanation based upon the Kelvin–Benjamin variational principle This is analogous to the pinchoff of a vortex ring generated using a piston–cylinder apparatus suggesting that pinchoff is a general component of the vortex ring formation process for various generation mechanisms
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