Hole diameter effect on flow characteristics of wake behind porous fences having the same porosity

The hole diameter effect on the flow characteristics of wake behind porous fences has been investigated experimentally in a circulating water channel having a test section of 300^w×200^h×1200^l (mm). Three porous fences having different hole diameters of d=1.4,2.1,2.8 mm were tested in this study, but they have the same =38.5% geometric porosity. One thousand instantaneous velocity fields for each fence were measured consecutively by the hybrid PTV system employing a high-speed CCD camera. Free stream velocity was fixed at 10 cm/sec and the corresponding Reynolds number based on the fence height was Re=2,985. Consequently, the fence with the smallest hole diameter d=1.4 mm (d_1.4) decreases the streamwise velocity component and increases the vertical velocity component. Among the three hole diameters tested in this study, the d_1.4 fence has the largest turbulence intensity in the shear layer developed from the fence top. Regardless of the hole diameter, however, all three fences having the same porosity reduce the reduction of turbulent intensity in the lower region below the fence height (y/H<1).