Vortical means pertaining to a vortex or to vortices. In fluid dynamics, the movement of a fluid can be said to be vortical if the fluid moves around in a circle, or in a helix, or if it tends to spin around some axis. Such motion can also be called solenoidal.

Vortical movement is characterized by non-zero curl:

<math> \operatorname{curl}\ \mathbf{v} \ne 0, <math>

where v is the velocity vector field of the fluid.

The curl of the velocity (at a specified point of the vector field) yields a vector which points in the direction around which the fluid is rotating.

See also

• Main: Vortex, Vorticity, Coordinate rotation
• Vector: Solenoidal vector field, Vector potential
• Other: Electromagnetic field, List of mathematical topics

Further reading

• Ting, L., "Viscous vortical flows" (Lecture notes in physics). Springer-Verlag 1991. ISBN 3540537139

External links

• Vortical Flow Research Lab (http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/org/s/spiral/www/home.html) (MIT) -- Study of flows found in nature and part of the Department of Ocean Engineering.
• Kida, Shigeo, "Life, Structure, and Dynamical Role of Vortical Motion in Turbulence (http://www.igf.fuw.edu.pl/IUTAM/ABSTRACTS/Kida.pdf)". National Institute for Fusion Science, Theory and Computer Simulation Center. (PDF)
• Marcos, C. de la Fuente, and P. Barge, "The effect of long-lived vortical circulation on the dynamics of dust particles in the mid-plane of a protoplanetary disc (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/Journals/content/abstracts/mnr/2001/323/3/abstract_mnr4228.asp?journal=mnr&issueid=5690&artid=109036&cid=mnr.2001.1&ftype=abstracts&Inst=true)".
• "Vortical (http://images.google.com/images?q=Vortical&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&filter=0)" images via Google.