Tornado-Like Gas-Solid Flow

The fundamental possibility of physical simulation of wall-free concentrated air vortices under laboratory conditions was demonstrated. Video filming is used to investigate the dynamics of air vortices which arise over a heated underlying surface as a result of unstable stratification of air. Various types of trajectories of motion of the base of vortex structures are revealed. Parameters are analyzed such as the temperature of underlying surface, the region of emergence of vortex structures, the lifetime, and the direction of motion, which define the type of trajectory of vortex base.