An Experimental Study On The Interaction Of Vortex Rings

The Study is performed as thesis project by author for Master of Science at University of Alaska Fairbanks under professor Dr. Jifeng Peng guidance. The study investigated the role of formation time, Reynolds Number, and nondimensional frequency number, the three most significant parameters in the dynamics of vortex rings, in the interaction between co-axial and co-rotating vortex rings and in the ring behaviors of merging and leapfrogging. Using digital particle image velocimetry to measure the flow fields as well as the trajectory and circulation of the individual rings, a series of experiments were conducted at three formation times, with the experiments at each formation time repeated at different Reynolds Numbers, and the experiments at each Reynolds Number in turn repeated at different non-dimensional frequency numbers.