efluids image gallery
previous BACK to Gallery of Flow Images previous   previous next   next Submit Image
HORSESHOE VORTEX
Henri Werlé
ONERA

Horseshoe vortex capping a cylindrical obstacle at the wall. This sink vortex characterizes the three-dimensionla separation of the flow along a flat wall with a cylindrical obstacle. The colored streak emitted at the wall reveals the boundary of the separated zone and the counterflow in front of the obstacle (in white), the sense of rotation of the main vortex whose two branches (in yellow) curve downstream, and lastly the separated zone behind the obstacle (in green).

This type of vortex occurs, in particular, around bridge piles, for which it presents a risk of undermining.

Image created by Henri Werlé. Reproduced with permission from his spectacular collection Courants et Couleurs published in 1974 by ONERA, the French Aerospace Lab.

For further information, see On the Flow of Fluids Made Visible, Henri Werlé, Leonardo, Vol. 8, No. 4. (Autumn, 1975), pp. 329-331.

© Copyright on the images is held by the contributors. Apart from Fair Use, permission must be sought for any other purpose.