STEADY BUOYANT DROPLETS WITH CIRCULATION

Numerical solutions are presented for the steady flow corresponding to a two-dimensional moving droplet with circulation. Differences in the density of the droplet and surrounding fluid result in a buoyancy for ce which is balanced by a lift force due to the Magnus effect. The dro plet is assumed to have constant vorticity in its interior, and its bo undary may be a vortex sheet, as in a Prandtl-Batchelor flow. Only sym metric solutions are calculated. For Atwood number A=0 (no density dif ference) the droplet is a circle. As the Atwood number is increased, t he droplet shape begins to resemble a circular cap with a dimpled base . There is a critical Atwood number A ii, at which the droplet develop s two corners. For 0 less than or equal to A <A(lim), the solution is smooth; while for A(lim)<A, we do not find a solution. (C) 1998 Americ an Institute of Physics.