The hydraulic vortex - an autocatakinetic system

Experiments were performed to provide a phenomenological explanation of how a hydraulic (water) vortex forms. Experimental observation and results gathered from this work also provided a possible explanation as to why such a vortex forms. The data and interpretations presented are intended to support the classification of the hydraulic vortex as a self-organizing, autocatakinetic system; establishing the hydraulic vortex as a member of a broader class of general systems. Two apparatuses were constructed to study hydraulic vortex formation. Each apparatus was also modeled using a commercial computational program. Results have shown that the formation and persistence of a hydraulic vortex rapidly minimizes potentials generated by a circulation source and sink. Other self-organizing characteristics of the flow were revealed including, the arrival of global order in the flow from local interactions, and the bolstering of the vortical system robustness through an interactive feedback stretching force. Finally, the process of vortex formation and persistence were shown to fit well into generalized autocatakinetic systems presented by others.