![Vortex-street-animation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Vortex-street-animation.gif)
In
fluid dynamics
In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...
, an eddy is the swirling of a
fluid
In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot resist any shear ...
and the reverse
current
Currents, Current or The Current may refer to:
Science and technology
* Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas
** Air current, a flow of air
** Ocean current, a current in the ocean
*** Rip current, a kind of water current
** Current (stre ...
created when the fluid is in a
turbulent
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...
flow regime.
The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object. Fluid behind the obstacle flows into the void creating a swirl of fluid on each edge of the obstacle, followed by a short reverse flow of fluid behind the obstacle flowing upstream, toward the back of the obstacle. This phenomenon is naturally observed behind large emergent rocks in swift-flowing rivers.
An eddy is a movement of fluid that deviates from the general flow of the fluid. An example for an eddy is a
vortex
In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...
which produces such deviation. However, there are other types of eddies that are not simple vortices. For example, a
Rossby wave
Rossby waves, also known as planetary waves, are a type of inertial wave naturally occurring in rotating fluids. They were first identified by Sweden-born American meteorologist Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby. They are observed in the atmospheres an ...
is an eddy which is an undulation that is a deviation from mean flow, but doesn't have the local closed streamlines of a vortex.
Swirl and eddies in engineering
The propensity of a fluid to
swirl is used to promote good fuel/air mixing in internal combustion engines.
In
fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them.
It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and bio ...
and
transport phenomena
In engineering, physics, and chemistry, the study of transport phenomena concerns the exchange of mass, energy, charge, momentum and angular momentum between observed and studied systems. While it draws from fields as diverse as continuum mechan ...
, an eddy is not a property of the fluid, but a violent swirling motion caused by the position and direction of turbulent flow.
Reynolds number and turbulence
![Reynolds fluid turbulence experiment 1883](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Reynolds_fluid_turbulence_experiment_1883.jpg)
In 1883, scientist
Osborne Reynolds
Osborne Reynolds (23 August 1842 – 21 February 1912) was an Irish-born innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics. Separately, his studies of heat transfer between solids and fluids brought improvements in boiler and condenser design. ...
conducted a fluid dynamics experiment involving water and dye, where he adjusted the velocities of the fluids and observed the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, characterized by the formation of eddies and vortices. Turbulent flow is defined as the flow in which the system's inertial forces are dominant over the viscous forces. This phenomenon is described by
Reynolds number
In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number () is a dimensionless quantity that helps predict fluid flow patterns in different situations by measuring the ratio between inertial and viscous forces. At low Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be domi ...
, a unit-less number used to determine when turbulent flow will occur. Conceptually, the Reynolds number is the ratio between inertial forces and viscous forces.
![Laminar-turbulent_transition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Laminar-turbulent_transition.jpg)
The general form for the Reynolds number flowing through a tube of radius (or diameter ):
:
where is the
velocity
Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a ...
of the fluid, is its
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...
, is the radius of the tube, and is the
viscosity
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water.
Viscosity quantifies the inte ...
of the fluid. A turbulent flow in a fluid is defined by the critical Reynolds number, for a closed pipe this works out to approximately
:
In terms of the critical Reynolds number, the critical velocity is represented as
:
Research and development
Computational fluid dynamics
These are turbulence models in which the Reynolds stresses, as obtained from a Reynolds averaging of the
Navier–Stokes equations
In physics, the Navier–Stokes equations ( ) are partial differential equations which describe the motion of viscous fluid substances, named after French engineer and physicist Claude-Louis Navier and Anglo-Irish physicist and mathematician Geo ...
, are modelled by a linear constitutive relationship with the mean flow straining field, as:
:
where
:*
is the coefficient termed turbulence "viscosity" (also called the eddy viscosity)
:*
is the mean turbulent kinetic energy
:*
is the ''mean'' strain rate
: Note that that inclusion of
in the linear constitutive relation is required by tensorial algebra purposes when solving for two-equation turbulence models (or any other turbulence model that solves a transport equation for
.
Hemodynamics
Hemodynamics
Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuously m ...
is the study of blood flow in the circulatory system. Blood flow in straight sections of the arterial tree are typically laminar (high, directed wall stress), but branches and curvatures in the system cause turbulent flow.
Turbulent flow in the arterial tree can cause a number of concerning effects, including atherosclerotic lesions, postsurgical neointimal hyperplasia, in-stent restenosis, vein bypass graft failure, transplant vasculopathy, and aortic valve calcification.
Industrial processes
Lift and drag properties of golf balls are customized by the manipulation of dimples along the surface of the ball, allowing for the golf ball to travel further and faster in the air. The data from turbulent-flow phenomena has been used to model different transitions in fluid flow regimes, which are used to thoroughly mix fluids and increase reaction rates within industrial processes.
Fluid currents and pollution control
Oceanic and atmospheric currents transfer particles, debris, and organisms all across the globe. While the transport of organisms, such as
phytoplankton
Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'.
Ph ...
, are essential for the preservation of ecosystems, oil and other pollutants are also mixed in the current flow and can carry pollution far from its origin. Eddy formations circulate trash and other pollutants into concentrated areas which researchers are tracking to improve clean-up and pollution prevention. The distribution and motion of plastics caused by eddy formations in natural water bodies can be predicted using Lagrangian transport models. Mesoscale ocean eddies play crucial roles in transferring heat poleward, as well as maintaining heat gradients at different depths.
Environmental flows
Modeling eddy development, as it relates to turbulence and fate transport phenomena, is vital in grasping an understanding of environmental systems. By understanding the transport of both particulate and dissolved solids in environmental flows, scientists and engineers will be able to efficiently formulate remediation strategies for pollution events. Eddy formations play a vital role in the fate and transport of solutes and particles in environmental flows such as in rivers, lakes, oceans, and the atmosphere. Upwelling in stratified coastal estuaries warrant the formation of dynamic eddies which distribute nutrients out from beneath the boundary layer to form plumes. Shallow waters, such as those along the coast, play a complex role in the transport of nutrients and pollutants due to the proximity of the upper-boundary driven by the wind and the lower-boundary near the bottom of the water body.
Mesoscale ocean eddies
![Canary A2002186 1155 250m](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Canary_A2002186_1155_250m.jpg)
Eddies are common in the ocean, and range in diameter from centimeters to hundreds of kilometers. The smallest scale eddies may last for a matter of seconds, while the larger features may persist for months to years.
Eddies that are between about 10 and 500 km (6 and 300 miles) in diameter and persist for periods of days to months are known in oceanography as mesoscale eddies.
Mesoscale eddies can be split into two categories: static eddies, caused by flow around an obstacle (see animation), and transient eddies, caused by baroclinic instability.
When the ocean contains a sea surface height gradient this creates a jet or current, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This current as part of a baroclinically unstable system meanders and creates eddies (in much the same way as a meandering river forms an
oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...
). These types of mesoscale eddies have been observed in many major ocean currents, including the Gulf Stream, the Agulhas Current, the Kuroshio Current, and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, amongst others.
Mesoscale ocean eddies are characterized by currents that flow in a roughly circular motion around the center of the eddy. The sense of rotation of these currents may either be cyclonic or anticyclonic (such as
Haida Eddies
Haida Eddies are episodic, clockwise rotating ocean eddies that form during the winter off the west coast of British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii and Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago. These eddies are notable for their large size, persistence, and freq ...
). Oceanic eddies are also usually made of water masses that are different from those outside the eddy. That is, the water within an eddy usually has different temperature and salinity characteristics to the water outside the eddy. There is a direct link between the water mass properties of an eddy and its rotation. Warm eddies rotate anti-cyclonically, while cold eddies rotate cyclonically.
Because eddies may have a vigorous circulation associated with them, they are of concern to naval and commercial operations at sea. Further, because eddies transport anomalously warm or cold water as they move, they have an important influence on heat transport in certain parts of the ocean.
Influences on Apex Predators
The sub-tropical Northern Atlantic is known to have both cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies that are associated with high surface chlorophyll and low surface chlorophyll, respectively. The presence of chlorophyll and higher levels of chlorophyll allows this region to support higher biomass of phytoplankton, as well as, supported by areas of increased vertical nutrient fluxes and transportation of biological communities. This area of the Atlantic is also thought to be an ocean desert, which creates an interesting paradox due to it hosting a variety of large pelagic fish populations and apex predators
These mesoscale eddies have shown to be beneficial in further creating ecosystem-based management for food web models to better understand the utilization of these eddies by both the apex predators and their prey. Gaube et al. (2018), used “Smart” Position or Temperature Transmitting tags (SPOT) and Pop-Up Satellite Archival Transmitting tags (PSAT) to track the movement and diving behavior of two female white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) within the eddies. The eddies were defined using sea surface height (SSH) and contours using the horizontal speed-based radius scale. This study found that the white sharks dove in both cyclones but favored the anticyclone which had three times more dives as the cyclonic eddies. Additionally, in the Gulf Stream eddies, the anticyclonic eddies were 57% more common and had more dives and deeper dives than the open ocean eddies and Gulf Stream cyclonic eddies.
Within these anticyclonic eddies, the isotherm was displaced 50 meters downward allowing for the warmer water to penetrate deeper in the water column. This warmer water displacement may allow for the white sharks to make longer dives without the added energetic cost from thermal regulation in the cooler cyclones. Even though these anticyclonic eddies resulted in lower levels of chlorophyll in comparison to the cyclonic eddies, the warmer waters at deeper depths may allow for a deeper mixed layer and higher concentration of diatoms which in turn result in higher rates of primary productivity. Furthermore, the prey populations could be distributed more within these eddies attracting these larger female sharks to forage in this mesopelagic zone. This diving pattern may follow a diel vertical migration but without more evidence on the biomass of their prey within this zone, these conclusions cannot be made only using this circumstantial evidence.
The biomass in the mesopelagic zone is still understudied leading to the biomass of fish within this layer to potentially be underestimated. A more accurate measurement on this biomass may serve to benefit the commercial fishing industry providing them with additional fishing grounds within this region. Moreover, further understanding this region in the open ocean and how the removal of fish in this region may impact this pelagic food web is crucial for the fish populations and apex predators that may rely on this food source in addition to making better ecosystem-based management plans.
[Gaube, P., Braun, C. D., Lawson, G. L., McGillicuddy, D. J., Penna, A. della, Skomal, G. B., Fischer, C., & Thorrold, S. R. (2018). Mesoscale eddies influence the movements of mature female white sharks in the Gulf Stream and Sargasso Sea. Scientific Reports, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/S41598-018-25565-8]
See also
*
Vortex
In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...
*
Eddy pumping
Eddy pumping is a component of mesoscale eddy-induced vertical motion. It is a physical mechanism through which vertical motion is created from variations in an eddy's rotational strength. Cyclonic ( Anticyclonic) eddies lead primarily to upwell ...
- component of vertical motion in eddies relevant for biology and biogeochemistry
*
Eddy diffusion
Eddy diffusion, eddy dispersion, or turbulent diffusion is a process by which substances are mixed in the atmosphere, the ocean or in any fluid system due to eddy motion. In other words, it is mixing that is caused by eddies that can vary in size f ...
*
Haida Eddies
Haida Eddies are episodic, clockwise rotating ocean eddies that form during the winter off the west coast of British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii and Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago. These eddies are notable for their large size, persistence, and freq ...
*
Irminger Rings
Irminger Rings (IRs) are mesoscale (15-50 kilometers) ocean eddies that are formed off the West coast of Greenland and travel southwestwards through the Labrador Sea. Most IRs are anti-cyclonic (clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere). There is co ...
*
Reynolds number
In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number () is a dimensionless quantity that helps predict fluid flow patterns in different situations by measuring the ratio between inertial and viscous forces. At low Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be domi ...
- a dimensionless constant used to predict the onset of turbulent flow
*
Reynolds experiment
*
Kármán vortex street
In fluid dynamics, a Kármán vortex street (or a von Kármán vortex street) is a repeating pattern of swirling vortices, caused by a process known as vortex shedding, which is responsible for the unsteady separation of flow of a fluid arou ...
*
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
*
Whirlwind
A whirlwind is a weather phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow (current) gradients. Whirlwinds occur all over the world and i ...
*
River eddies in whitewater
*
Wake turbulence
Wake turbulence is a disturbance in the atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes variety of elements, the most significant of which are wingtip vortices and jetwash. Jetwash refers to the rapidly moving g ...
*
Computational fluid dynamics
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...
*
Laminar flow
In fluid dynamics, laminar flow is characterized by fluid particles following smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral mi ...
*
Hemodynamics
Hemodynamics or haemodynamics are the dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory system is controlled by homeostatic mechanisms of autoregulation, just as hydraulic circuits are controlled by control systems. The hemodynamic response continuously m ...
*
Modons, or dipole eddy pairs.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddy (Fluid Dynamics)
Fluid dynamics
Vortices