Hydrodynamic flow with steady and preserved vorticity (Q1083304)

In the present paper, attention is confined to the special subclass of isochoric flows with steady vorticity. Restricting the scope of the previous work [the author, ibid. 87, 93-105 (1985)] and applying its geometrical results, I obtain all three-dimensional hydrodynamic flows possessing steady and preserved vorticity. Excepting plane flows with or without superposed rigid translations in the perpendicular direction, all other solutions belong to four simple families and they are steady flows or differ from steady flows by superposed rigid translational motions. Nevertheless, the weaker assumption of steady vorticity introduces considerable analytical subtleties in the study which would not arise in the case of steady flow. A combination of material and spatial descriptions is required to elucidate the implications of various geometrical and kinematical conditions, some referring to instantaneous configurations in space while others to properties preserved by material lines or surfaces. Certain analytical details presented in the work may prove useful in systematic and exact studies of other classes of three-dimensional unsteady motions. As for the results of the present analysis, they are summarized in the final section of this paper.