Formation and turbulent breakdown of large-scale vortical structures behind an obstacle in a channel at moderate Reynolds numbers

Abstract

© 2019 Author(s). This paper deals with experimental investigation and direct numerical simulation of three-dimensional separated laminar and transitional flows behind a semicircular spanwise rib on a bottom wall of a rectangular channel at Reynolds numbers of up to 480. Particular emphasis is given to the formation mechanism of quasiperiodic large-scale vortex clouds in the mixing layer behind the rib. Vortical structures near the channel axis are formed due to pairing of spiral vortices emerging close to the vertical walls when the corner boundary layers impact on the rib. The effect of the Reynolds number and normalized channel size on the spiraling motion, generation, and shedding of large-scale vortex clouds has been estimated.