Strongly Nonlinear Effect in Unstable Wakes

B. J. A. Zielinska; S. Goujon-Durand; J. Dus̆ek; J. E. Wesfreid

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.3893

Strongly Nonlinear Effect in Unstable Wakes

B. J. A. Zielinska, S. Goujon-Durand, J. Dus̆ek, and J. E. Wesfreid

Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 3893 – Published 17 November 1997

Abstract

We perform experiments and numerical simulations on the mean streamwise velocity field of an unstable cylinder wake. We show that the mean velocity exhibits two weak secondary minima as the consequence of nonlinear interactions, resulting in a strong mean flow correction of the unstable mode. This correction, dominating the basic flow, governs the decrease in the length of the recirculation region $Δ L_{r}$ in the supercritical regime. This explains the early classical observations of M. Nishioka and H. Sato [J. Fluid Mech. 89, 49 (1978)].

Received 19 December 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.79.3893

Authors & Affiliations

B. J. A. Zielinska^2,1, S. Goujon-Durand^1,3, J. Dus̆ek⁴, and J. E. Wesfreid¹

¹Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles de Paris (ESPCI), PMMH-URA CNRS No. 857, 10, rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
²Gas Engineering Montrouge/Schlumberger Ind., B.P. 620-13, 92542 Montrouge Cedex, France
³Laboratoire d'Electronique, Université Paris XII, 61 Av du Géneral de Gaulle, Créteil Cedex, France
⁴Université Louis Pasteur, IMF-URA CNRS No. 854, 2, rue Boussingault, 67000 Strasbourg, France