Abstract
The vortical structure of near-wake behind a sphere is investigated using a PIV technique in a circulating water channel at Re = 11,000. The measured velocity fields show a detailed vortical structure in the recirculation region such as recirculation vortices, reversed velocity zone, and out-of-plane vorticity distribution. The vorticity distribution of the sphere wake shows waviness in cross-sectional planes. The time-averaged turbulent structures are consistent with the visualized flow showing the onset of shear layer instability. The spatial distributions of turbulent intensities provide turbulent statistics for validating numerical predictions.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- U o :
-
free stream velocity
- d :
-
sphere diameter
- Re :
-
Reynolds number \( (U_{o} \cdot d/\nu) \)
- V :
-
mean velocity component
- V′ :
-
fluctuation velocity component
- ω :
-
vorticity
- (x, y, z):
-
Cartesian coordinate directions
- \( {{\sqrt {\overline{{V^{{'2}}_{x} }} } }} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{\sqrt {\overline{{V^{{'2}}_{x} }} } }} {U_{o} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {U_{o} } \) :
-
turbulence intensity of V x
- \( {{\sqrt {\overline{{V^{{'2}}_{y} }} } }} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{\sqrt {\overline{{V^{{'2}}_{y} }} } }} {U_{o} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {U_{o} } \) :
-
turbulence intensity of V y
- \( {{\sqrt {\overline{{V^{{'2}}_{z} }} } }} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{\sqrt {\overline{{V^{{'2}}_{z} }} } }} {U_{o} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {U_{o} } \) :
-
turbulence intensity of V z
References
Achebach E (1972) Experiments on the flow past spheres at very high Reynolds numbers. J Fluid Mech 54(3):565–575
Achebach E (1974) Vortex shedding from spheres. J Fluid Mech 62(2):209–221
Cannon S, Champagne F, Glezer A (1993) Observations of large-scale structures in wakes behind axisymmetric bodies. Exp Fluids 14(6):447–450
Constantinescu GS, Squires KD (2003) LES and DES investigation of turbulent flow over a sphere at Re = 10,000. Flow Turbulence Combust 70:267–298
Constantinescu GS, Squires KD (2004) Numerical investigations of flow over a sphere in the subcritical and supercritical regimes. Phys Fluids 16(5):1449–1466
Coleman H, Steele WG (2001) Experimentation and uncertainty analysis for engineers. Wiley, New York, pp 83–132
Doh DH, Hwang TG, Saga T (2004) 3D-PTV measurements of the wake of a sphere. Meas Sci Technol 15:1059–1066
Hadzic I, Bakić V, Perić M, Sajn V, Kosel F (2002) Experimental and numerical studies of flow around sphere at sub-critical Reynolds number. Eng Turbulence Model Exp 5:667–676
Johnson TA, Patel VC (1990) Flow past a sphere up to a Reynolds number of 300. J Fluid Mech 378:19–70
Kim HJ, Durbin PA (1988) Observations of the frequencies in a sphere wake and of drag increase by acoustic excitation. Phys Fluids 31(11):3260–3265
Kiya M, Ishikawa H, Sakamoto H (2001) Near-wake instabilities and vortex structures of three-dimensional bluff bodies: a review. J Wind Eng Ind Aerodyn 89:1219–1232
Leder A, Geropp D (1993) The unsteady flow structure in the wake of the sphere. SPIE 2052:119–126
Lee SJ, Lee SH (1999) Synchronized smoke-wire technique for flow visualization of turbulent flows. J Flow Vis Image Proc 6:65–78
Leweke T, Provansal M, Ormières D, Lebescond R (1999) Vortex dynamics in the wake of a sphere. Phys Fluid 11(9):S12
Nakamura I (1976) Steady wake behind a sphere. Phys Fluids 19(1):5–8
Raffel M, Willert CE, Kompenhans J (1998) Particle image velocimetry. Springer, Göttingen, pp 134–146
Sakamoto H, Haniu H (1990) A study on vortex shedding from spheres in a uniform flow. J Fluids Eng 112:386–392
Sakamoto H, Haniu H (1995) The formation mechanism and shedding frequency of vortices from a sphere in uniform shear flow. J Fluid Mech 287:151–171
Schmid M, Bakic V, Peric M (2002) Vortex shedding in the turbulent wake of a sphere at subcritical Reynolds number. Results and review workshop on high performance computing in science and engineering, pp 309–316
Suryanarayana GK, Prabhu A (2000) Effect of natural ventilation on the boundary layer separation and near-wake vortex shedding characteristics of a sphere. Exp Fluids 29(7):582–591
Taneda S (1956) Experimental investigation of the wake behind a sphere at low Reynolds number. J Phys Soc Japan 11(10):1104–1108
Taneda S (1978) Visual observations of the flow past a sphere at Reynolds numbers between 104 and 106. J Fluid Mech 85(1):187–192
Werlé H (1980) ONERA photograph In: An album of fluid motion (assembled by Dyke V). Parabolic Press, Stanford, pp 32–35
Wu JS, Faeth GM (1993) Sphere wakes in still surroundings at intermediate Reynolds numbers. AIAA J 31(8):1448–1455
Yun G, Kim D, Choi H (2006) Vortical structures behind a sphere at subcritical Reynolds numbers. Phys Fluids 18(1):015102
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) through the National Research Lab. Program funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (No. M10600000276-06J0000-27610).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jang, Y.I., Lee, S.J. PIV analysis of near-wake behind a sphere at a subcritical Reynolds number. Exp Fluids 44, 905–914 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-007-0448-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-007-0448-2