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Kármán Vortex Street: Discrete-Vortex Wake Simulator (2D)

2D discrete-vortex-method simulation of the Kármán vortex street: alternating vortices shed behind a cylinder, advected by freestream, potential-flow blocking and mutual induction, with a live Strouhal-Reynolds readout.

Fluid Dynamics & Aerodynamics2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

The 3D original behind this page renders a generic decorative particle-swarm template shared across many "field" simulations — its title says Vortex Street, but the actual motion is a parametric sine/cosine sculpture with no fluid mechanics behind it. This 2D companion builds the real mechanic instead: a discrete-vortex-method (DVM) simulation where a potential-flow doublet stands in for the cylinder, alternating point vortices are released from its shoulders at a rate set by Roshko's empirical Strouhal-Reynolds correlation, each vortex advects under the combined freestream + doublet + mutual-induction velocity field with a desingularized Lamb–Oseen core, and upstream dye tracers trace out the alternating street pattern live. Sweep velocity, cylinder diameter, Reynolds number and core smoothing and watch the Strouhal number, shedding frequency and wake period update immediately.

⚙ Under the hood

Discrete-vortex-method Kármán vortex street: alternating point vortices shed at the Roshko Strouhal-Reynolds rate, advected by a potential-flow doublet plus mutual induction, visualized with upstream dye tracers and a live Strouhal/frequency/period readout.

vortex streetvon kármándiscrete vortex methodstrouhal numberreynolds numberpotential flow

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install