Connection between base drag, separating boundary layer characteristics and wake mean recirculation length of an axisymmetric blunt-based body

The variation of the base drag of an axisymmetric bluff body caused by modifications of the boundary-layer separating at the sharp-edged contour of its base is analysed through different numerical simulations, and the results are compared with those of a previous experimental investigation. Variational MultiScale Large-Eddy Simulations (VMS-LES) are first carried out on the same nominal geometry and at the same Reynolds number of the experiments. Subsequently, Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) are performed at Reynolds numbers that are roughly two orders of magnitude lower, in order to investigate on the sensitivity of the main findings to the Reynolds number. The results of experiments, VMS-LES and DNS simulations show that an increase of the base pressure - and thus a decrease of the base drag - may be obtained by increasing the boundary layer thickness before separation, which causes a proportional increase of the length of the mean recirculation region behind the body. In spite of the different setups, Reynolds numbers and turbulence levels in the experiments and numerical simulations, in all cases the base pressure is found to be directly proportional to the length of the mean recirculation region, which is thus a key index of the base drag value. In turn, the recirculation length seems to be connected with the location of the incipient instability of the detaching shear layers, which can be moved downstream by an increase of the thickness of the separating boundary layer and upstream by an increase of the turbulence level

Control of the turbulent flow in a plane diffuser through optimized contoured cavities

A passive control strategy, which consists in introducing contoured cavities in solid walls, is applied to a plane asymmetric diffuser at a Reynolds number that implies fully-turbulent flow upstream of the diffuser divergent part. The analysed reference configuration, for which experimental and numerical data were available, is characterized by an area ratio of 4.7 and a divergence angle of 10 degrees. A large zone of steady flow separation is present in the diffuser without the introduction of the control. One and two subsequent contoured cavities are introduced in the divergent wall of the diffuser and a numerical optimization procedure is carried out to obtain the cavity geometry that maximizes the pressure recovery in the diffuser and minimizes the flow separation extent. The introduction of one optimized cavity leads to an increase in pressure recovery of the order of 6.9% and to a significant reduction of the separation extent, and further improvement (9.6%) is obtained by introducing two subsequent cavities in the divergent wall. The most important geometrical parameters are also identified, and the robustness of the solution to small changes in their values and in the Reynolds number is assessed. The present results show that the proposed control strategy, previously tested in the laminar regime, is effective also for turbulent flows at higher Reynolds numbers. As already found for laminar flow, the success of the control is due both to a virtual geometry modification of the diffuser and to a favourable effect of the cavities in reducing the momentum losses near the wall

The appearance of constant-frequency time cells during vortex-shedding from a square cylinder in accelerating flows

A wind tunnel test campaign is conducted to trace the temporal variation of the shedding frequency of a square cylinder tested under the action of accelerating flows. These are characterized by flow accelerations which are consistent with those typical of thunderstorm outflows. Time intervals in which the shedding frequency is constant are found. The presence of these constant-frequency time cells reflects a local violation of the Strouhal law, and it seems to be connected with the flow acceleration. Furthermore, the ensemble mean of the Strouhal number is seen to decrease for higher levels of acceleration

Effects of flow accelerations typical of thunderstorm outflows on the vortex-shedding from a square cylinder

Accelerating flows acting on a sectional model of a sharp-edged square cylinder are reproduced through the action of a multiple-fan wind tunnel. The model is equipped with 94 pressure sensors, while the wind flow around the body is characterized through three Pitot-static tubes. The accelerations generated by the 72 individually controlled fans of the facility are compatible with those typical of thunderstorm outflows. Particular attention is devoted to the acquisition of signals associated with vortex-shedding, for which tailored time-frequency analyses, based on the continuous wavelet and Hilbert transforms, are proposed. Time intervals in which the shedding frequency is constant, separated by discontinuities, are found during the transients. The number and magnitude of such discontinuities seem to be connected with the flow acceleration. The appearance of constant-frequency time cells is not strictly repetitive; moreover, the Strouhal number is seen to decrease for higher levels of acceleration

Separation control and efficiency improvement in a 2D diffuser by means of contoured cavities

The performance of a passive control method aimed at reducing and, possibly, eliminating boundary layer separation is evaluated by means of numerical simulation. The passive control, which consists of introducing appropriately-shaped cavities in solid walls, is applied to a plane diffuser. The Reynolds number is such that the turbulence can be neglected (Re = 500, based on the diffuser half-width at the inlet section and the inlet velocity on the axis). A configuration characterized by an area ratio of 2 and a divergence angle of 7 degrees is chosen, so that, without the introduction of the control, the flow is characterized by a large zone of steady asymmetrical boundary layer separation. In order to reduce the separated zone and to increase the efficiency of the diffuser, a couple of symmetric contoured cavities is introduced in the diverging walls. An optimization procedure is developed to obtain the cavity geometry that maximizes the pressure recovery in the diffuser and minimizes the boundary layer separation extent. The introduction of the optimal cavities leads to an increase in pressure recovery of the order of 13% and to a strong reduction of the separation extent. This result is due to a favourable modification of the velocity and vorticity fields in the near-wall region. The most important geometrical parameters are also identified and the robustness of the control to small changes in their values is investigated. It is found that the contoured cavities are effective as long as the flow is able to reattach immediately downstream of the cavities

Experimental investigation on the aerodynamic loads and wake flow features of a low aspect-ratio circular cylinder

An experimental investigation on the flow features of the wake generated from a circular cylinder with finite height and placed vertically on a plane is presented. Through force measurements the mean drag coefficient is found to be roughly invariant by varying Reynolds number in a range between 6×104 and 11×104. As for the fluctuating forces, a dominant spectral component is clearly detected for the signals of the cross-flow force. A spectral contribution with roughly the same Strouhal number is detected from velocity signals acquired, through hot-wire anemometry, in proximity to the lateral wake boundary; its energy is found to decrease by moving the probe away from the wake and upwards. Simultaneous velocity measurements showed that these fluctuations can confidently be ascribed to an alternate vortex shedding. Subsequently, dynamic measurements of the pressure field over the lateral surface and the free-end of the model were carried out, which highlight that the spectral component connected to vortex shedding is found over the lateral surface, with maximum energy at an azimuthal position just before the separation of the shear layers. The fluctuating energy connected to vortex shedding decreases by moving towards regions immersed in the separated wake, and with increasing vertical coordinate; as a matter of fact, above about half model height an evident energy peak cannot be detected anymore. This feature highlights that a regular alternate vortex shedding occurs only for the lower half-span of the model and that the remaining part is dominated by the upwash generated by the flow passing over the free-end. From the spectral analysis of the pressure measurements carried out over the model free-end no evidence of the presence of the spectral component connected to the alternate vortex shedding is found, as expected. However, a significant fluctuating energy is observed at lower dominating frequencies

Correction of wandering smoothing effects on static measurements of a wing-tip vortex

Wandering is a typical feature of wing-tip vortices and it consists in random fluctuations of the vortex core. Consequently, vortices measured by static measuring techniques appear to be more diffuse than in reality, so that a correction method is needed. In the present paper statistical simulations of the wandering of a Lamb-Oseen vortex are first performed by representing the vortex core locations through bi-variate normal probability density functions. It is found that wandering amplitudes smaller than 60% of the core radius are well predicted by using the ratio between the RMS value of the mean cross-velocity and its slope measured at the mean vortex center. Furthermore, the principal axes of wandering can be accurately evaluated from the opposite of the cross-correlation coefficient between the spanwise and the normal velocities measured at the mean vortex center. The correction of the wandering smoothing effects is then carried out through four different algorithms that perform the deconvolution of the mean velocity field with the probability density function that represents the wandering. The corrections performed are very accurate for the simulations with wandering amplitudes smaller than 60% of the core radius, whereas errors become larger with increasing wandering amplitudes. Subsequently, the whole procedure to evaluate wandering and to correct the mean velocity field is applied to static measurements, carried out with a fast-response five-hole pressure probe, of a tip vortex generated from a NACA 0012 half-wing model. It is found that the wandering is predominantly in the upward-outboard to downward-inboard direction. Furthermore, the wandering amplitude grows with increasing streamwise distance from the wing, whereas it decreases with increasing angle of attack and free-stream velocity