When a vortex-dominated flow interacts with a sharp density interface, the dynamics are characterized by the interaction of baroclinically generated vorticity with the already existing vorticity field. This can be seen in many natural and technology settings; examples are the interaction of a ship or submarine wake with a thermocline, the collision of a buoyant thermal with a temperature inversion, and the interaction of a vortex flow with a flame front. This problem also serves as a generic model for turbulent mixing and entrainment processes across sharp density interfaces. The interaction between vortices and a free surface, with corresponds to the case where the density jump is very large, has been studied fairly extensively, both experimentally and computationally. By comparison, the literature for the more general case of vortex pairs and rings interacting with sharp density interfaces is relatively sparse. Experiments and numerical studies have been performed, but the numerical simulations were confined primarily to vortex pairs, restricted to the inviscid case, and the effect of density variation modeled under the Boussinesq approximation. The experiments were also confined to the Boussinesq regime. In this paper, we study the motion of a vortex ring in a sharply stratified, viscous fluid via a numerical solution of the full Navier-Stokes equations with finite-amplitude density variation. both Boussinesq and non-Boussinesq flow regimes will be studied, the effect of viscosity on the interaction will be examined, and three-dimensional aspects of the motion will be addressed, such as Widnall instability of the vortex ring and vortex reconnection at the interface.

Fluid Vortices is a comprehensive, up-to-date, research-level overview covering all salient flows in which fluid vortices play a significant role. The various chapters have been written by specialists from North America, Europe and Asia, making for unsurpassed depth and breadth of coverage. Topics addressed include fundamental vortex flows (mixing layer vortices, vortex rings, wake vortices, vortex stability, etc.), industrial and environmental vortex flows (aero-propulsion system vortices, vortex-structure interaction, atmospheric vortices, computational methods with vortices, etc.), and multiphase vortex flows (free-surface effects, vortex cavitation, and bubble and particle interactions with vortices). The book can also be recommended as an advanced graduate-level supplementary textbook. The first nine chapters of the book are suitable for a one-term course; chapters 10--19 form the basis for a second one-term course.

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