Steady axisymmetric vortices in radial stagnation flows

Abstract

A class of axisymmetric vortex solutions superposed upon radial stagnation flows is described. The new vortex solutions generalize the classical Burgers' vortex and Sullivan's vortex solutions in the presence of a volumetric line source at the symmetry axis, the former approaching the Burgers' vortex sheet when the source strength becomes very large. The stability of the generalized Burgers' vortex is studied. In a different manner from the classical solution, the generalized Burgers' vortices are found to be unstable for two-dimensional disturbances when the vortex Reynolds number is increased above a critical value, for a fixed strength of the volumetric source.