Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 9, 2025

Preparation of Free-Surface Hyperbolic Water Vortices
Published on: July 28, 2023
Stability of finite and infinite von Kármán vortex-cluster streets
Z Maches1, E Bartley1, J Borjon1
1Nonlinear Dynamical Systems Group and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-7720, USA.
Abstract:
A wake of vortices with sufficiently spaced cores may be represented via the point-vortex model from classical hydrodynamics. We use potential theory representations of vortices to examine the emergence and stability of complex vortex wakes, more particularly the von Kármán vortex street composed of regular polygonal-like clusters of same-signed vortices. We investigate the existence and stability of these streets represented through spatially periodic vortices. We introduce a physically inspired point-vortex model that captures the stability of infinite vortex streets with a finite number of procedurally generated vortices, allowing for numerical analysis of the behavior of vortex streets as they dynamically form.
Related Concept Videos
Steady, Laminar Flow in Circular Tubes
Stability of Equilibrium Configuration
A stable equilibrium occurs when a system tends to return to its original position when given a small displacement, and the potential energy is at its minimum. An example of a stable equilibrium is when a cantilever beam is fixed at one end and a weight is attached to the other end. If the weight...
Irrotational Flow
Navier–Stokes Equations
Bernoulli's Equation for Flow Normal to a Streamline
The pressure difference depends on the fluid's velocity and radius of curvature. The pressure variation is minimal in flows with nearly straight streamlines. However, the...
Bernoulli's Equation for Flow Along a Streamline

