Dynamics and Instabilities of Vortex Pairs in the Presence of Walls

This thesis examines the behaviour and characteristics of vortex pairs interacting with walls. Investigations into the evolution of vortex pairs have found that the simple flow configuration is rich in interesting fluid mechanics phenomena, with the study of their fundamental dynamics enabling further understanding of more complex flows encountered both in nature and in the engineering industry. Of particular interest is how the dynamics differs when walls are introduced, to allow for the understanding of systems including aircraft wake vortices in ground effect and wall-bounded turbulent flows.