ACTA MECHANICA SINICA, Vol.9, No.

1 February 1993
Science Press, Beijing, China
Allerton Press, INC., New York, U.S.A.
ISSN 0567-7718
GENERAL EXACT SOLUTI ON OF I NCOMPRESSI BLE
POTENTI AL FLOWS AROUND TWO CIRCLES
Wa n g Qi anxi ( ~ 1 ~ ) Zh u a n g Li xi an ( ~ [ , ~ ) To n g Bi nggang ( ~ )
(University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China)
ABSTRACT: Three exact solutions are obtained for 2-D incompressible potential flows around two moving
circles in three cases: (i) expansion (or contraction) of themselves, (ii) approaching (or departing from) each
other, (iii) moving perpendicularly to the line connecting the centres in opposite directions. Meanwhile, an-
other set of two exact solutions is obtained for 2-D incompressible potential flows between two moving eccen-
tric circles in two cases: moving parallelly or perpendicularly to the line connecting the centres.
KEY WORDS: incompressible potential flow, unsteady flow, conformal mapping
I . I NT R ODUC T I ON
Accor di ng t o t he s uper pos i t i on pr i nc i pl e , t he i ncompr essi bl e pot ent i al flow a r o u n d t wo
circles movi ng a nd expandi ng i n a fl ui d can be di vi ded i nt o f our el ement ar y par t s i nduced
respect i vel y by t wo circles fixed i n a uni f or m s t r e a m, expandi ng ( or c ont r a c t i ng) , appr oachi ng
( or depar t i ng f r om) each o t h e r , movi ng per pendi cul ar l y t o t he l i ne connect i ng t he cent res i n
opposi t e di r e c t i ons , as sket ched i n Fi g. 1. Her e t he pot ent i al flow i nduced by t wo circles me a ns
t he 2-D pot ent i al flow i nduced b y t wo par al l el ci r cul ar cyl i nders of i nf i ni t e l e n g t h .
~V_
I. ____ U-
~ Vc
~ W t
9
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Fig. 1 The four cases of two circles moving or expanding in a fluid : (a) fixed in a uniform stream, (b) expansion of
themselves, (c) approaching (or departing from) each other, (d moving perpendicularly to the line connecting
the centres in opposite directions
The i ncompr essi bl e pot ent i al flow bet ween t wo
movi ng eccent ri c circles can be di vi ded i nt o t wo
el ement ar y par t s i nduced by t he move me nt s par al l el
a nd per pendi cul ar t o t he l i ne connect i ng t he cent res i n
opposi t e di r e c t i ons , as sket ched i n F i g . 2 .
Lagal l y ( 1929) obt ai ned t he exact s ol ut i on for t he
st eady pot ent i al flow of t wo circles fixed i n a uni f or m
st r eam TM. The ot her pr obl ems me nt i one d above are
uns t eady ones and r emai n uns ol ved up t o n o w. I n
@@
(a) (b)
this p a p e r , t he r egi on out si de ( or bet ween ) t he t wo Fig.2 The movements of two circles parallel(a)
circles is ma ppe d i nt o an a nnul us . The n all t he and perpendicular ( b ) t o the line connecting
r emai ni ng pr obl ems are sol ved anal yt i cal l y i n t he the centers in opposite directions
Received 7 December 1991