Features of the turbulent flow around symmetric elongated bluff bodies

The flow fields around three elongated bluff bodies with the same chord-to-thickness ratios but distinct leading and trailing edge details were measured at a Reynolds number of 3 x 10(4). These models each represent a case where: leading edge shedding dominates, trailing edge shedding dominates and a case where there is a balance between the two. The results show that the vortex street parameters vary between the models, and in particular, the shedding frequencies are significantly altered by the geometry. However, contrary to the current understanding for shorter bluff bodies, the scale of the recirculation region is found to be similar for each model, even though the shedding frequency changes within the range from 0.15 to 0.24. Also, the base pressure does not follow trends with shedding frequency expected from shorter bluff bodies. A force balance of the recirculation region shows that the near wake of each body is significantly affected by the Reynolds shear stress distribution and the resultant force due to the pressure field in the mean recirculation region. These differences infer that the distinct vortex formation characteristics depend on the state of the trailing edge shear layers. The boundary layers at the trailing edge have been quantified, as have the leading edge separation bubbles, and the marked differences in the wake details are shown to depend on the leading edge separation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.