Structure of stratified flow around a cylinder at low internal froude number

The flow pattern around a horizontal cylinder towed at constant velocity in a continuously stratified fluid is visualized by the shadow method. The velocities in the leading flow disturbance, i. e., in the flow-blocking region ahead of the cylinder, are presented. In the body wake, a new class of small-size structures in the density gradient field is revealed against the background of a smooth velocity profile. The evolution of the flow pattern with variation of the parameters of body motion is studied. Institute of Mechanics Problems, Moscow 117526. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 80–88, January–February, 1999.