Modelling and feedback control of vortex shedding for drag reduction of a turbulent bluff body wake

Three-dimensional bluff body wakes are of key importance due to their relevance to the automotive industry. Such wakes have both large pressure drag and a number of coherent flow structures associated with them. Depending on the geometry, these structures may include both a bistability resulting from a spatial symmetry breaking (SB), and a quasi-periodic vortex shedding. The authors have recently shown that the bistability may be modelled by a Langevin equation and that this model enables the design of a feedback control strategy that efficiently reduces the drag through suppression of asymmetry. In this work the stochastic modelling approach is extended to the vortex shedding, capturing qualitatively both the forced and unforced behaviour. A control strategy is then presented that makes use of the frequency response of the wake, and aims to reduce the measured fluctuations associated with the vortex shedding. The strategy proves to be effective at suppressing fluctuations within specific frequency ranges but, due to amplification of disturbances at other frequencies, is unable to give drag reduction