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The off-axis emergence of vortex breakdown (VB) is revealed. The steady axisymmetric flow in a vertical sealed cylinder, which is partially filled with water and the rest is filled with air, is driven by the rotating bottom disk. The numerical simulations show that VB can emerge away from the rotation axis, interface, and walls. As the rotation intensifies, VB first develops in the water region. If the water height is less (larger) than nearly one half of the cylinder radius, VB emerges off (on) the axis. As the rotation further increases, the off-axis VB ring touches the interface and then a thin countercirculation layer develops in the air flow above the water VB domain. This two-fluid VB ring shrinks (it even disappears in a very shallow whirlpool) as the interface approaches the bottom disk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This numerical study of the axisymmetric motion of a viscous incompressible fluid in an elongated cylindrical container explains how colliding counterflows develop. Two swirling flows enter the container through peripheral inlets and leave it through central exhausts symmetrically from both ends. Different flow rates, characterized by the Reynolds number Re, are studied for a fixed swirl number. For small Re, the throughflow (TF) is limited to the inlet-exhaust vicinities and a few circulation cells occupy the rest of the interior. As Re grows, (i) the circulation cells disappear while the TF reaches the container's midsection and becomes U shaped, moving near the sidewall inward and going back near the container axis; elongated circulation regions develop separating the TF branches; (ii) the flow convergence to the axis focuses near the container's midsection, resulting in the vortex breakdown development; (iii) the swirl-induced low pressure causes suction of the ambient fluid through the central parts of the exhausts; (iv) the suction flow reaches the container's midsection, turns around, mixes with the driving TF, forms an annular outflow, and leaves through the exhaust periphery. The two factors, (a) swirl decay due to friction at the sidewall and (b) the focused flow convergence to the axis, constitute the physical mechanism of the colliding counterflows. Such flow pattern is favorable for a vortex solid-fuel combustor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This numerical study of an axisymmetric motion of a viscous incompressible fluid in an elongated cylindrical container explains how a swirling inflow develops the global meridional circulation and two U-shaped throughflows (TFs). For moderate values of the Reynolds (Re) number, there is a single U-shaped TF: The fluid moves from the peripheral annular inlet near the sidewall to the dead end, turns around, goes back near the axis, and leaves the container through the central exhaust. A Re increases, vortex breakdown occurs near the dead end. If the exhaust orifice is wide, the ambient fluid is sucked into the container near its axis, reaches the dead-end vicinity, merges with the U-shaped TF, and goes back inside an annular region. Thus, a double counter-flow develops, where the fluid moves to the dead end near both the sidewall and the axis and goes back in between. The physical mechanism of the double counterfiow is a swirl decay combined with the focused flow convergence near the dead end. This double counterfiow is beneficial for combustion applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]