Comparison of the vortex shedding behavior of a single plate and a plate array

Abstract

This study compares the shedding behavior around and downstream of a single plate positioned in a flow field alone with the shedding behavior around and downstream of the same plate positioned in an array of identical plates. The shedding frequencies and corresponding Strouhal numbers based on chord [S _r (c)] and based on thickness [S _r (t)] are obtained using a hot-wire anemometer. In comparison with the plate positioned as a single plate, the same plate placed in a plate array shows increases in S _r (c) of up to 55.5% and produces a dominant peak in the power spectra that is wider by a factor of 3.5. In contrast to the single-plate results, which exhibit step changes in S _r (c) of about 0.6 at c/t ≈ 6, 8 and 11, the plate positioned in an array shows only one abrupt transition at c/t ≈ 4.