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Flow field in the wake of a bluff body driven through a steady recirculating flow

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Abstract

The wake produced by a bluff body driven through a steady recirculating flow is studied experimentally in a water facility using particle image velocimetry. The bluff body has a rectangular cross section of height, \(H\), and width, \(D\), such that the aspect ratio, AR = H/D, is equal to 3. The motion of the bluff body is uniform and rectilinear, and corresponds to a Reynolds number based on width, Re D  = 9,600. The recirculating flow is confined within a hemicylindrical enclosure and is generated by planar jets emanating from slots of width, \(h\), such that \(Re_h=500\). Under these conditions, experiments are performed in a closed-loop facility that enables complete optical access to the near-wake. Velocity fields are obtained up to a distance of \(13D\) downstream of the moving body. Data include a selection of phase-averaged velocity fields representative of the wake for a baseline case (no recirculation) and an interaction case (with recirculation). Results indicate that the transient downwash flow typically observed in wakes behind finite bodies of small aspect ratio is significantly perturbed by the recirculating flow. The wake is displaced from the ground plane and exhibits a shorter recirculation zone downstream of the body. In summary, it was found that the interaction between a bluff body wake and a recirculating flow pattern alters profoundly the dynamics of the wake, which has implications on scalar transport in the wake.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aerospace Medicine through the National Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Research in the Intermodal Transport Environment under Cooperative Agreement 07-C-RITE-PU. Although the FAA has sponsored this project, it neither endorses nor rejects the findings of this research. The presentation of this information is in the interest of invoking technical comment on the results and conclusions of the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Stephane B. Poussou

  2. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, N.W., Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Michael W. Plesniak

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  1. Stephane B. Poussou
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Correspondence to Michael W. Plesniak.

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Poussou, S.B., Plesniak, M.W. Flow field in the wake of a bluff body driven through a steady recirculating flow. Exp Fluids 56, 40 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-015-1910-1

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