Prandtl-Batchelor flows on an annulus

Abstract

For steady two-dimensional Navier-Stokes flows with a single eddy (i.e. nested closed streamlines) in a simply connected domain, Prandtl (1905) and Batchelor (1956) found that in the inviscid limit, the vorticity is constant inside the eddy. In this paper, we consider the generalized Prandtl-Batchelor theory for the forced steady Navier-Stokes equations on an annulus. First, we observe that in the limit of infinite Reynolds number, if the streamlines of forced steady Navier-Stokes solutions on an annulus are nested closed, then the inviscid limit is a rotating shear flow uniquely determined by the external force and boundary conditions. We call solutions of steady Navier-Stokes equations with the above property Prandtl-Batchelor flows. Then, by constructing higher order approximate solutions of the forced steady Navier-Stokes equations and establishing the validity of Prandtl boundary layer expansion, we give a rigorous proof of the existence of Prandtl-Batchelor flows on an annulus with the wall velocities slightly different from the rigid-rotations along the same direction.