Interaction of Two-Dimensional Trailing Vortex Pair with a Shear Layer

The basic laws governing the interaction of a two-dimensional vortex pair with a shear layer of constant thickness are considered. The main idea of the study is to develop and adapt a simplified representation of a hydrodynamic flow based on a point-vortex model simulating the actual interaction of full-scale vortex patterns over the ground surface. It is shown that vortices with vorticity opposite in sign to the shear layer may stop or even ricochet from this layer, while the other vortex may penetrate through the layer. Numerical results are presented as plots and analyzed