Numerical studies of the wake of a plate normal to a free stream

Wake flows form an important class of problems in fluid mechanics both from fundamental and application points of view. While the geometry of a circular cylinder has received much attention, that of a flat plate has not. At present, numerical simulations have not been reported in significant numbers and are mostly two-dimensional. The time dependent two- and three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are solved using the large eddy simulation (LES) technique. The two-dimensional calculations are shown to be unable to predict mean quantities accurately. The three-dimensional calculations revealed that even at low Reynolds number the flow is three-dimensional very close to the plate. Coherent structures such as ribs and rolls were observed in the instantaneous vorticity plots from three-dimensional calculations. Turbulent quantities such as normal and shear stresses have been determined. Heat transfer calculations at different Reynolds numbers indicated that the heat flux varies inversely with the Reynolds number in the range studied (Re = 25 to 1000). The three-dimensional calculation at Reynolds number of 1000 reveals that the heat flux does not change appreciably due to the three-dimensionality of the flow field.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio