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A note on the bathtub vortex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

Merwin Sibulkin
Affiliation:
General Dynamics/Astronautics, San Diego, California

Abstract

Observations were made of the vortex motion which occurs when a liquid is draining from a vessel through a hole in its bottom. It was found that, for relatively quiescent initial conditions, the direction of rotation reversed as the liquid surface approached the bottom of the vessel. An explanation of this phenomenon is proposed which is based upon the vorticity associated with the circumferential component of the flow in the boundary layer on the bottom of the vessel.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1962 Cambridge University Press

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References

Prandtl, L. 1949 Essentials of Fluid Dynamics. New York: Hafner.
Weske, J. R. 1958 On the origin and mechanism of vortex motion at the inlet of intakes placed near a flat surface. University of Maryland, Tech. Note BN-152, AFOSR-TN-58 863.Google Scholar