Wake development in turbulent subsonic axisymmetric flows

The development of the wake velocity and turbulence profiles behind a cylindrical blunt based body aligned with a subsonic uniform stream was experimentally investigated as a function of the momentum thickness of the approaching boundary layer and the transfer of mass into the recirculating region. Measurements were made just outside of the recirculating region at distances of 1.5, 2 and 3 diameters downstream of the cylinder. Results indicate that, even at these short distances from the cylinder base, the velocity profiles are similar. They also show that the width of the wake increases with the thickness of the boundary layer while the velocity at the centerline decreases. Near wake mass transfer was found to alter centerline velocities while the width of the wake was not significantly altered. Wake centerline velocity development as a function of boundary layer thickness is presented for distances up to three diameters from the base. This work was supported in part by the ‘Xunta de Galicia’ under Project No. XUGA20611B93.