On instability characteristics of isolated vortices and models of trailing-vortex systems (Q597085)

The authors demonstrate the applicability of a two-dimensional eigenvalue approach to the study of linear instability of analytically constructed and numerically calculated models of trailing-vortex systems. Chebyshev collocation is used in the two-dimensional eigenvalue problem solution in order to discretize two spatial directions on which non-axisymmetric vorticity distributions are defined, while the third, axial spatial direction is taken to be homogeneous and is resolved by a Fourier expansion. The leading eigenvalues of the matrix discretizing the equations which govern small-amplitude perturbations superimposed upon such a vorticity distribution are obtained by Arnoldi iteration. The present approach is validated by comparison of its results on the instability of an isolated Batchelor vortex. Here benchmark computations exist, employing classic instability analysis, in which the azimuthal direction is also treated as homogeneous. Subsequently, the proposed methodology is shown to be able to recover the classic long- (Crow) and short-wavelength instabilities of a counter-rotating vortex-pair basic flow obtained by direct numerical simulation. Finally, the effect on the eigenspectrum of the isolated Batchelor vortex is documented, when the basic flow consists of a linear superposition of such vortices. It is shown that the modifications of the eigenspectrum of a single vortex lead to the potential pitfalls of drawing conclusions on the instability characteristics of a trailing-vortex system by monitoring the constituent vortices in isolation.