Measurements in the flow around a marine propeller at the stern of an axisymmetric body

Experiments were performed in a wind tunnel to study the flow around an axisymmetric body driven by a marine propeller. Measurements were made in the boundary layer and wake of the bare body, on the body with only a dummy hub rotating, and finally, with the propeller in operation. Part 1 of this paper described the experimental arrangement and instrumentation. Also, circumferentially-averaged results were presented to clarify certain aspects of the overall flow. In the present part, measurements made with a triplesensor hotwire are analyzed using phase-averaging techniques to reconstruct the instantaneous velocity and Reynolds-stress fields downstream of the propeller and show the evolution of the wakes of individual blades, blade-tip vortices, and the complex flow associated with vortices generated at hub-blade junctions. It is found that the blade wakes and features of the tip and hub flow are evident up to about two propeller diameters, beyond which the wake of the body-propeller combination can be regarded as a rotationally-symmetric flow.     

PIV analysis of flow around a container ship model with a rotating propeller

The flow characteristics of the propeller wake behind a container ship model with a rotating propeller were investigated using a two-frame PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique. Ensemble-averaged mean velocity fields were measured at four different blade phases and ensemble-averaged to investigate the flow structure in the near-wake region. The mean velocity fields in longitudinal planes show that a velocity deficit is formed in the regions near the blade tips and hub. As the flow develops in the downstream direction, the trailing vortices formed behind the propeller hub move upward slightly due to the presence of the hull wake and free surface. Interaction between the bilge vortices and the incoming flow around the hull causes the flow structure to be asymmetric. Contour plots of the vorticity give information on the radial distribution of the loading on the blades. The radial velocity profiles fluctuate to a greater extent under the heavy (J=0.59) and light loading (J=0.88) conditions than under the design loading condition (J=0.72). The turbulence intensity has large values around the tip and trailing vortices. As the wake develops in the downstream direction, the strength of the vorticity diminishes and the turbulence intensity increases due to turbulent diffusion and active mixing between the tip vortices and the adjacent wake flow.     

Three-component velocity field measurements of propeller wake using a stereoscopic PIV technique

A stereoscopic PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) technique was used to measure the three-dimensional flow structure of the turbulent wake behind a marine propeller with five blades. The out-of-plane velocity component was determined using two CCD cameras with an angular displacement configuration. Four hundred instantaneous velocity fields were measured for each of four different blade phases, and ensemble averaged in order to find the spatial evolution of the propeller wake in the region from the trailing edge up to one propeller diameter (D) downstream. The influence of propeller loading conditions on the wake structure was also investigated by measuring the velocity fields at three advance ratios (J=0.59, 0.72 and 0.88). The phase-averaged velocity fields revealed that a viscous wake formed by the boundary layers developed along the blade surfaces. Tip vortices were generated periodically and the slipstream contracted in the near-wake region. The out-of-plane velocity component and strain rate had large values at the locations of the tip and trailing vortices. As the flow moved downstream, the turbulence intensity, the strength of the tip vortices, and the magnitude of the out-of-plane velocity component at trailing vortices all decreased due to effects such as viscous dissipation, turbulence diffusion, and blade-to-blade interaction.     

“Analysis of the propeller wake evolution by pressure and velocity phase measurements”

In the present study an experimental analysis of the velocity and pressure fields behind a marine propeller, in non-cavitating regime is reported. Particle image velocimetry measurements were performed in phase with the propeller angle, to investigate the evolution of the axial and the radial velocity components, from the blade trailing edge up to two diameters downstream. In phase pressure measurements were performed at four radial and eight longitudinal positions downstream the propeller model at different advance ratios. Pressure data, processed by using slotting techniques, allowed reconstructing the evolution of the pressure field in phase with the reference blade position. In addition, the correlation of the velocity and pressure signals was performed. The analysis demonstrated that, within the near wake, the tip vortices passage is the most important contribution in generating the pressure field in the propeller flow. The incoming vortex breakdown process causes a strong deformation of the hub vortex far downstream of the slipstream contraction. This process contributes to the pressure generation at the shaft rate frequency.     

The wake flow downstream of a propeller-rudder system

We report wall-resolved, large-eddy simulations for the case of a propeller operating upstream of a hydrofoil, mimicking a rudder. Our primary objective is the identification of wake features that are unique to this coupled system, when compared to open-water cases, which are usually the focus of experiments and computations in the literature. We were able to achieve unprecedented levels of numerical resolution, which capture the dynamics of all energetic eddies in the flow by using a scalable, conservative, structured solver in cylindrical coordinates. The boundary conditions on the rotating propeller and hydrofoil were enforced via an immersed boundary formulation. The largest values of turbulent stresses in the wake of the hydrofoil are achieved outwards from the radial coordinate of the tip of the propeller blades. This is due to spanwise gradients across the hydrofoil (in the direction parallel to the span of the hydrofoil), producing a displacement of the pressure side legs of the tip vortices towards outer coordinates, where they experience shear with the wake of the hydrofoil. The evolution of turbulence is non-monotonic across the streamwise direction. This is a consequence of the growing shear resulting from the complex interactions involving the shear layers from the trailing edge, the tip vortices and the two branches of the hub vortex coming from the two sides of the hydrofoil. Such a shear is reinforced by the spanwise velocities developed by the two branches of the propeller wake across the hydrofoil. Compared to an isolated propeller, these phenomena enhance turbulence production. The present results highlight that a downstream hydrofoil, typical of surface ships, is able to significantly intensify the wake signature of a propeller.     

Coherent and turbulent process analysis of the effects of a longitudinal vortex on boundary layer detachment on a NACA0015 foil

In this paper, the influence of a single tip vortex on boundary layer detachment is studied. This study offers a preliminary approach in order to better understand the interaction between a propeller hub vortex and the rudder installed in its wake. This configuration belongs to the field of marine propulsion and encompasses such specific problem as cavitation inception, modification of propulsive performances and induced vibrations. To better understand the complex mechanisms due to propeller–rudder interactions it was decided to emphasize configurations where the hub vortex is generated by an elliptical 3-D foil and is located upstream of a 2-D NACA0015 foil at high incidences for a Reynolds number of 5×10⁵. The physical mechanisms were studied using Time Resolved Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-SPIV) techniques. Particular attention was paid to the detachment at 25° incidence and a detailed cartography of the mean and turbulent properties of the wake is presented. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) analysis was applied in order to highlight the unsteady nature of the flow using phase averaging based on the first POD coefficients to characterize the turbulent and coherent process in the near wake of the rudder.     

Propeller tip and hub vortex dynamics in the interaction with a rudder

In the present paper, the interaction mechanisms of the vortices shed by a single-screw propeller with a rudder installed in its wake are addressed; in particular, following the works by Felli et al. (Exp Fluids 6(1):1–11, 2006a, Exp Fluids 46(1):147–1641, 2009a, Proceedings of the 8th international symposium on particle image velocimetry: Piv09, Melbourne, 2009b), the attention is focused on the analysis of the evolution, instability, breakdown and recovering mechanisms of the propeller tip and hub vortices during the interaction with the rudder. To investigate these mechanisms in detail, a wide experimental activity consisting in time-resolved visualizations, velocity measurements by particle image velocimetry (PIV) and laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) along horizontal chordwise, vertical chordwise and transversal sections of the wake have been performed in the Cavitation Tunnel of the Italian Navy. Collected data allows to investigate the major flow features that distinguish the flow field around a rudder operating in the wake of a propeller, as, for example, the spiral breakdown of the vortex filaments, the rejoining mechanism of the tip vortices behind the rudder and the mechanisms governing the different spanwise misalignment of the vortex filaments in the pressure and suction sides of the appendage.     

舵几何特征对桨-舵系统尾流场演化的影响

发生在桨和舵之间的干扰会影响螺旋桨尾流的演化,导致尾流场中的湍流在下游增强,恶化船舶的振动和噪声性能,深入分析舵几何参数对桨-舵系统尾流场演化的影响能够为推进器尾流场的调节和减振降噪提供新思路.因此,从弦长、剖面和梯形舵入手分析不同的舵几何参数对螺旋桨尾流场演化特性的影响,使用大漩涡模拟方法模拟流场中的湍流结构,对不同舵弦长、剖面下的螺旋桨尾涡结构演化进行了分析,在舵弦长、剖面影响螺旋桨尾流场演化的研究的基础上分析了梯形舵对螺旋桨尾涡结构的影响,进一步分析了梯形舵影响下的螺旋桨尾流场中湍动能的分布.结果表明舵的弦长和剖面均会影响螺旋桨尾流场的演化,这种影响表现为更大的弦长和更厚的剖面会促进螺旋桨梢涡在舵压力面上的偏移,更薄的舵剖面会带来更强烈的螺旋桨毂涡偏移;涡管轮廓和舵表面脉动压力的对比均表明梯形舵会促进螺旋桨尾流场沿逆舵梯度方向偏移,从而导致螺旋桨的尾涡结构在舵两侧及下游呈现不对称分布,桨-舵系统下游的湍流结构与螺旋桨尾涡-舵碰撞过程、螺旋桨尾涡-舵随边涡干扰过程、螺旋桨梢涡-螺旋桨毂涡干扰有关,偏移更大的螺旋桨尾涡结构会在尾流场中更早地引起湍动能增强.     

涡识别技术及其在船用螺旋桨伴流场中的应用

涡识别是很重要的流体问题, 为了在船用螺旋桨伴流场中寻找一种合理的涡识别方法, 本文结合实践, 研究了六种涡识别技术理论, 其中使用Burgers涡流和Lamb-Oseen涡流作了必要的解释, 讨论了各种识别方法的优缺点. 局部低压标准比较直观, 但深究其黏性和非定常影响后, 明显不足; 迹线或流线显然不能满足伽利略不变性, 会使辨别变得混乱; 涡度大小需要规定其阈值, 具有一定不确定性, 且也会识别不是涡的涡片; 速度梯度张量的复特征值也会有识别不出的区域; 速度梯度张量的第二不变量标准和对称张量的第二特征值标准能更好地识别涡核, 这两种标准有时等效. 螺旋桨伴流场的数值模拟是在开源软件OpenFOAM平台上实现的, 湍流大涡模型由一种局部动态方程建模, 此模型优于动态Smagorinsky模型. 最终的结果显示: 对于船用螺旋桨伴流场中的涡, 采用速度梯度张量的第二不变量和对称张量的第二特征值的结果基本一致, 而最小压力标准、流线或迹线标准、涡度值标准和速度张量的复特征值标准都存在一定的缺陷, 不适用于船用螺旋桨伴流场中的涡识别.      

Flow field analysis of a turbulent boundary layer over a riblet surface

The near-wall flow structures of a turbulent boundary layer over a riblet surface with semi-circular grooves were investigated experimentally for the cases of drag decreasing (s ⁺=25.2) and drag increasing (s ⁺=40.6). One thousand instantaneous velocity fields over riblets were measured using the velocity field measurement technique and compared with those above a smooth flat plate. The field of view was 6.75 × 6.75 mm² in physical dimension, containing two grooves. Those instantaneous velocity fields were ensemble averaged to get turbulent statistics including turbulent intensities and turbulent kinetic energy. To see the global flow structure qualitatively, flow visualization was also carried out using the synchronized smoke-wire technique under the same experimental conditions. For the case of drag decreasing (s ⁺=25.2), most of the streamwise vortices stay above the riblets, interacting with the riblet tips frequently. The riblet tips impede the spanwise movement of the streamwise vortices and induce secondary vortices. The normalized rms velocity fluctuations and turbulent kinetic energy are small near the riblet surface, compared with those over a smooth flat plate. Inside the riblet valleys, these are sufficiently small that the increased wetted surface area of the riblets can be compensated. In addition, in the outer region (y ⁺ > 30), these values are almost equal to or slightly smaller than those for the smooth plate. For the case of drag increasing (s ⁺=40.6), however, most of the streamwise vortices stay inside the riblet valleys and contact directly with the riblet surface. The high-speed down-wash flow penetrating into the riblet valley interacts actively with the wetted riblet surface and increases the skin friction. The rms velocity fluctuations and turbulent kinetic energy have larger values compared with those over a smooth flat plate. Received: 24 March 1999/Accepted: 10 March 2000     

Numerical study of unsteady flow and heat transfer of circular tangential direction jets flowing over the inner cylinder surface in the annular chamber

In order to understand the dynamics of vortices on heat transfer, the unsteady flow field of tangential direction jets flowing in the annular chamber is numerically investigated by scale-adaptive simulation (SAS). The jet Reynolds number is 332,000 based on the jet’s diameter and inflow velocity for a specific geometric model. The analogy theory is used to obtain the convective heat transfer coefficient distribution on the hub surface. Spectral analysis via fast Fourier transform (FFT) is used to analyze frequency information that flows inside the chamber. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method is performed on the velocity field in the chamber and the convective heat transfer coefficient on the hub surface using a snapshot method. The fast Fourier transform helps find the dominant frequency of the unsteady flow in the chamber. The time sequence of velocity fields on the radial plane shows the presence of cyclic flapping of the jet. The proper orthogonal decomposition analysis indicates that the unsteady periodic flow phenomenon in the chamber and unsteady heat transfer on the hub surface are mainly related to the dynamics of the counter-rotating vortices caused by the jet.     

Volumetric three-component velocimetry measurements of the turbulent flow around a Rushton turbine

Volumetric three-component velocimetry measurements have been taken of the flow field near a Rushton turbine in a stirred tank reactor. This particular flow field is highly unsteady and three-dimensional, and is characterized by a strong radial jet, large tank-scale ring vortices, and small-scale blade tip vortices. The experimental technique uses a single camera head with three apertures to obtain approximately 15,000 three-dimensional vectors in a cubic volume. These velocity data offer the most comprehensive view to date of this flow field, especially since they are acquired at three Reynolds numbers (15,000, 107,000, and 137,000). Mean velocity fields and turbulent kinetic energy quantities are calculated. The volumetric nature of the data enables tip vortex identification, vortex trajectory analysis, and calculation of vortex strength. Three identification methods for the vortices are compared based on: the calculation of circumferential vorticity; the calculation of local pressure minima via an eigenvalue approach; and the calculation of swirling strength again via an eigenvalue approach. The use of two-dimensional data and three-dimensional data is compared for vortex identification; a ‘swirl strength’ criterion is less sensitive to completeness of the velocity gradient tensor and overall provides clearer identification of the tip vortices. The principal components of the strain rate tensor are also calculated for one Reynolds number case as these measures of stretching and compression have recently been associated with tip vortex characterization. Vortex trajectories and strength compare favorably with those in the literature. No clear dependence of trajectory on Reynolds number is deduced. The visualization of tip vortices up to 140° past blade passage in the highest Reynolds number case is notable and has not previously been shown.     

Population,characteristics and kinematics of vortices in a confined rectangular jet with a co-flow

Vortex behavior and characteristics in a confined rectangular jet with a co-flow were examined using vortex swirling strength as a defining characteristic. On the left side of the jet, the positively (counterclockwise) rotating vortices are dominant, while negatively rotating vortices are dominant on the right side of the jet. The characteristics of vortices, such as population density, average size and strength, and deviation velocity, were calculated and analyzed in both the cross-stream direction and the streamwise direction. In the near-field of the jet, the population density, average size and strength of the dominant direction vortices show high values on both sides of the center stream with a small number of counter-rotating vortices produced in the small wake regions close to jet outlet. As the flow develops, the wake regions disappear, these count-rotating vortices also disappear, and the population of the dominant direction vortices increase and spread in the jet. The mean size and strength of the vortices decrease monotonically with streamwise coordinate. The signs of vortex deviation velocity indicate the vortices transfer low momentum to high-velocity region and high momentum to the low velocity region. The developing trends of these characteristics were also identified by tracing vortices using time-resolved particle image velocimetry data. Both the mean tracked vortex strength and size decrease with increasing downstream distance overall. At the locations of the left peak of turbulent kinetic energy, the two-point spatial cross-correlation of swirling strength with velocity fluctuation and concentration fluctuation were calculated. All the correlation fields contain one positively correlated region and one negatively correlated region although the orientations of the correlation fields varied, due to the flow transitioning from wake, to jet, to channel flow. Finally, linear stochastic estimation was used to calculate conditional structures. The large-scale structures in the velocity field revealed by linear stochastic estimation are spindle-shaped with a titling stream-wise major axis.     

Experimental investigation of the coherent structures in a spirally corrugated pipe

Previous numerical and theoretical results (Chen et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2018; Zhao et al., 2019) based on the optimization theory of convective heat transfer reveal that the optimized flow structures in a straight circular pipe enhancing convective heat transfer are multiple longitudinal vortices. This conclusion encourages us to find out whether such flow structures really exist in some enhanced heat transfer pipes by means of advanced experimental techniques. Therefore, a typical enhanced heat transfer pipe was selected, namely a spirally corrugated pipe, and stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) was employed to measure its internal instantaneous flow field. Moreover, the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method was used to extract the large-scale coherent structures from the measured instantaneous velocity fields. Besides the spirally corrugated pipe, the fully developed turbulent flow in a straight pipe was also analyzed as benchmark of the enhanced heat transfer pipes. The results reveal that longitudinal whirling flow with multi-vortices is formed in both the fully developed turbulent flow field of the straight pipe and the spirally corrugated one. It is thus easy to explain the heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the above flow structures from the perspective of momentum transfer. The flow structures of the fully developed turbulent flow in a straight pipe are quite similar to the optimal flow pattern from the optimization theory. More specifically, multiple longitudinal vortices are spontaneously generated due to turbulence without external heat transfer enhancement techniques. Furthermore, the flow structures similar to multiple longitudinal vortices also exist in the spirally corrugated pipe, although these flow structures deviate from symmetric multiple vortices. Moreover, the flow structures in the spirally corrugated pipe are much more energetic than those in the fully developed turbulent flow in a straight pipe. This is probably the reason why a spirally corrugated pipe can enhance heat transfer compared with a straight circular pipe.     

横向紊动射流的数值与实验研究进展

横向紊动射流作为流体运动的一种重要类型,广泛存在于如: 燃气轮机气膜冷却、锅炉燃烧室等的燃烧控制, V/STOL(垂直或短距离起落)飞机、废气排放的控制等工程实际应用中.由于射流的存在,增加了流场的复杂性,流场中同时存在射流剪切层涡、马蹄形涡系、反向旋涡对和尾迹涡等4种涡系结构,这对流体力学理论研究具有重要意义.长期以来,研究人员从理论分析、实验测量和数值模拟方面对横向紊动射流进行了大量的研究工作,目前已经认识了流场中的许多流动特性和流动机理.从数值模拟和实验研究两个方面,比较并分析了国内外横向紊动射流研究的现状和研究结果,评述了不同湍流模型以及不同的实验测量方法对横向紊动射流的预测能力,讨论了存在的问题并对该领域的研究方向进行了展望.      

Temporal development of turbulent boundary layers with embedded streamwise vortices

The interaction of streamwise vortices with turbulent boundary layer has been investigated using large-eddy simulation. The initial conditions are a pair of counterrotating Oseen vortices with flow between them directed toward the wall (common-flow-down), superimposed on various instantaneous realizations of a turbulent boundary layer. The time development of the vortices and their interaction with the boundary layer are studied by integrating the filtered Navier-Stokes equations in time. The most important effects of the vortices on the boundary layer are the thinning of the boundary layer between vortices (downwash region) and the thickening of the boundary layer in the upwash region. The vortices first move toward the wall as a result of the self-induced velocity, and then apart from each other because of the image vortices due to the solid wall. The Reynolds stress profiles highlight the highly three-dimensional structure of the turbulent boundary layer modified by the vortices. The presence of significant turbulent activity near the vortex center and in the upwash region suggests that localized instability mechanisms in addition to the convection of turbulent energy by the secondary flow are responsible for this effect. High levels of turbulent kinetic energy and secondary stresses in the vicinity of the vortex center are also observed. The numerical results show good agreement with experimental results.This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant N00014-89-J-1638. Computer time was supplied by the San Diego Supercomputing Center.     

Cross-Stream Vorticity Field Induced by Streamwise Vortices in Unbounded and Wall-Bounded Shear Flows

This computational study examines the unsteady cross-stream vorticity structures that form when one or more streamwise vortices are immersed in homogeneous and boundary-layer shear flows. A quasi-two-dimensional limit is considered in which the velocity and vorticity fields, while still possessing three nonzero components, have vanishing gradient in the streamwise direction. This idealization is suitable to applications such as streamwise vortices that occur along a ship hull or airplane fuselage and it can be used as an idealized representation of the quasi-streamwise vortices in the near-wall region of a turbulent boundary layer. In this quasi-two-dimensional idealization, the streamwise velocity has no effect on the cross-stream velocity associated with the vortex. However, the vortex acts to modify the cross-stream vorticity component, resulting in regions of the flow with strong deviations in streamwise velocity. This paper examines the complex structures that form as the cross-stream vorticity field is wrapped up by the vortex and the effect of these structures on the streamwise velocity field, first for vortices immersed in homogeneous shear flow and then for vortices immersed in a boundary layer along a flat wall. Received 2 January 2002 and accepted 13 August 2002 Published online 3 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*" This project was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant Number N00014-01-1-0015. Dr. Thomas Swain is the program manager. Communicated by T.B. Gatski     

流向磁场作用下圆柱绕流的直接数值模拟

绕流是托卡马克装置中液态包层内常见的流动形态,对流场与热量分布有着重要的影响.本文通过直接数值模拟(DNS),研究了不同磁场强度下$Re=3900$的圆柱绕流,分析了磁场强度对于湍流尾迹的影响.无磁场情况下,直接数值模拟的结果与前人的实验及模拟结果吻合很好.圆柱下游的尾迹中,随着流向距离的增大, 流向速度剖面逐渐从U型进化呈V型, 并慢慢趋于平缓,这表明尾迹中的流动结构受圆柱影响逐渐减小.圆柱后方两侧的剪切层中,由于Kelvin-Helmholtz不稳定性的影响,可以清晰地看到小尺度剪切层涡的脱落.通过对无磁场的计算结果施加流向磁场,本文计算了哈特曼数($Ha$)分别为20, 40和80的工况,以研究磁场效应对于湍流的影响.结果表明磁场较弱时,流动依然呈三维湍流状态.随着磁场增强, 近圆柱尾流区受磁场抑制明显,回流区被拉长,剪切层失稳位置向下游转移.圆柱后方的涡结构由于受到竖直方向洛伦兹力的挤压作用,随着哈特曼数的增加尾迹区域逐渐变窄.相比于无磁场情况的涡结构,由于磁场的耗散作用,相应的涡结构尺度变小.该研究不仅扩展了现有磁场下湍流运动的参数范围,对于液态包层的设计及安全运行同样具有重要的理论指导意义和工程应用价值.      

DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS ON THE TURBULENT FLOW PAST A CONFINED CIRCULAR CYLINDER WITH THE INFLUENCE OF THE STREAMWISE MAGNETIC FIELDS1)

绕流是托卡马克装置中液态包层内常见的流动形态,对流场与热量分布有着重要的影响.本文通过直接数值模拟(DNS),研究了不同磁场强度下$Re=3900$的圆柱绕流,分析了磁场强度对于湍流尾迹的影响.无磁场情况下,直接数值模拟的结果与前人的实验及模拟结果吻合很好.圆柱下游的尾迹中,随着流向距离的增大, 流向速度剖面逐渐从U型进化呈V型, 并慢慢趋于平缓,这表明尾迹中的流动结构受圆柱影响逐渐减小.圆柱后方两侧的剪切层中,由于Kelvin-Helmholtz不稳定性的影响,可以清晰地看到小尺度剪切层涡的脱落.通过对无磁场的计算结果施加流向磁场,本文计算了哈特曼数($Ha$)分别为20, 40和80的工况,以研究磁场效应对于湍流的影响.结果表明磁场较弱时,流动依然呈三维湍流状态.随着磁场增强, 近圆柱尾流区受磁场抑制明显,回流区被拉长,剪切层失稳位置向下游转移.圆柱后方的涡结构由于受到竖直方向洛伦兹力的挤压作用,随着哈特曼数的增加尾迹区域逐渐变窄.相比于无磁场情况的涡结构,由于磁场的耗散作用,相应的涡结构尺度变小.该研究不仅扩展了现有磁场下湍流运动的参数范围,对于液态包层的设计及安全运行同样具有重要的理论指导意义和工程应用价值.     

PIV analysis of near-wake behind a sphere at a subcritical Reynolds number

The vortical structure of near-wake behind a sphere is investigated using a PIV technique in a circulating water channel at Re = 11,000. The measured velocity fields show a detailed vortical structure in the recirculation region such as recirculation vortices, reversed velocity zone, and out-of-plane vorticity distribution. The vorticity distribution of the sphere wake shows waviness in cross-sectional planes. The time-averaged turbulent structures are consistent with the visualized flow showing the onset of shear layer instability. The spatial distributions of turbulent intensities provide turbulent statistics for validating numerical predictions.