The investigation on the properties and structures of starting vortex flow past a backward-facing step by WBIV technique

An experimental investigation of a starting vortex flow around a backward-facing step was conducted in a water channel. The properties and structures of the flow were investigated by qualitative flow visualization using the hydrogen bubble method and by quantitative velocity and vorticity measurements using White-light Bubble Image Velocimetry (WBIV) — a newly developed PIV method. Some invariant properties and 4-stage structures of starting vortex flow were observed.List of symbols a flow acceleration during starting stage - h height of backward-facing step - d _v dimensionless vortex size - t time - t dimensionless time - U free uniform velocity - u, v streamwise and spanwise velocity components respectively - Re Reynolds number based on a and h - x, y streamwise and spanwise coordinates respectively in flow field - x _c , y _c dimensionless vortex center position - vorticity - ov dimensionless vorticity - _max maximum vorticity - ov _max dimensionless maximum vorticity - circulation - dimensionless circulation - kinematic viscosity This work was supported by the CNSF Grant 1939 100-1-3