Second Invariant Q for a 2D flow

Split the velocity gradient tensor ~u into its symmetric and antisymmetric
parts:
!
u u
~ =
U x
v
y
v = S+
x y

Therefore:

!
!
!
1 v 1 u
u
x
u
y
u
x 2 x + u
y 0 2 y v
x
= 1 v

+ 1


x
v v u v v u
x y 2 x + y y 2 y 0

The second invariant Q is defined as:

1
k k2 k S k2


Q=
2
Taking the norm k k as a trace norm, you would get:

1
Tr ( T ) Tr (S S T )


Q=
2
If you do the math (use Maxima, for instance) you would get, in La-
granges notation:

( u y v x )2 ( v x + u y )2 (v x +uy )(vy +u x )
" ! !#
1 4 0 4 + u2x 2
Q= Tr ( v x u y )2
Tr (v x +uy )(vy +u x ) ( v x + u y )2
2 0 + v2y
4 2 4

Which reads:

1h 2 i
Q= vy + 2 uy v x + u2x
2

Miguel Alfonso Mendez, Von Karman Institute