Helicity effects on inviscid instability in Batchelor vortices
Toshihiko Hiejima
Abstract
In this paper we investigate the instability properties of Batchelor vortices with a large swirl number and a fixed axial velocity deficit. In particular, it elucidates the effect of the helicity profile on the instability of the vortices as swirling wakes. In a linear stability analysis, a negative helicity profile destabilised a vortex with a large swirl number; the name given to this instability is ‘helicity instability’. Note that helicity instability is qualified for the case of axial flow with wake. In contrast, a conventional Batchelor vortex was stable at swirl numbers above a value of circulation, which is determined by the axial velocity deficit. The instability was related to a parameter is small. Because of the helicity instability, the nonlinear developments yielded a large fluctuation field with many small scales and high radial spreading rates. Even at the Mach number of 5.0, negative helicity exerted a much greater destabilisation effect than a zero entropy gradient. Therefore, the investigated novel effect established a reasonably powerful instability in compressible fluids, which is favourable for supersonic mixing.