Integrability of Velocity Constraints Modeling Vortex Shedding in Ideal Fluids

Abstract

A mathematical model that invokes the Kutta condition to account for vortex shedding from the trailing edge of a free hydrofoil in a planar ideal fluid is compared with a canonical model for the dynamics of a terrestrial vehicle subject to a nonintegrable velocity constraint. The Kutta condition is shown to be nonintegrable in a sense that parallels that in which the constraint on the terrestrial vehicle is nonintegrable. Simulations of the two systems' dynamics reinforce the analogy between the two.