THE STEADY MOTION OF A SYMMETRICAL OBSTACLE ALONG THE AXIS OF A ROTATING FLUID
Abstract
An extension was made of an investigation by Taylor (Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc. 20:326-329, 1920; Proc. Roy. Soc. London (A) 102:180-189, 1922; and ibid 104:213-218, 1923) of the steady motion of an obstacle along the axis of a rotating fluid. Taylor's particular solution was proved to be one of an infinity of functions comprising the general solution. The theory was applied to motions in a rotating cylinder of fluid, and a critical Rossby number was derived, below which the flow around the obstacle is wave-like. When the Rossby number is greater than the critical value, the flow consists only of a local perturbation that dies out rapidly on both sides of the obstacle. Various other critical numbers exist, below which additional modes of oscillation become dynamically possible. An experiment which was designed to test the theoretical results used an obstacle moving along the axis of a long cylinder of rotating water. The resulting 3-dimensional flow patterns, which were observed visually and photographically, appeared to be the same as those in the theoretical solution.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1952
- Accession Number
- AD0007413
Entities
People
- Robert R. Long
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University