Self-organized vortex multiplets in swirling flow

The possibility of double vortex multiplet formation at the center of an intensively swirling cocurrent flow generated in a cylindrical container by its rotating lid is reported for the first time. The boundary of the transition to unsteady flow regimes, which arise as a result of the equilibrium rotation of self-organized vortex multiplets (triplet, double triplet, double doublet, and quadruplet), has been experimentally determined for cylinders with the aspect (height to radius) ratios in a wider interval than that studied previously.