The structure of the large eddies in fully developed turbulent shear flows. Part 2. The plane wake

Abstract

A set of measurements using arrays of hot-wire anemometers has been performed in the fully developed turbulent wake of a circular cylinder. The data were digitized, recorded on magnetic tape, and processed using the pattern recognition technique described in Part 1 (Mumford 1982), to yield ensemble averages of the streamwise component of the velocity fields of the large eddies in the flow. The results indicate that the large-scale structures in the turbulent wake are predominantly the inclined ‘double-roller’ vortices described by Grant (1958). These eddies consist of two contrarotating roller-like vortices with parallel axes displaced in the spanwise direction and approximately aligned with the direction of the strain associated with the mean velocity gradient. It was found that the structures are often confined to either side of the wake centreplane, rather than extending over the entire thickness of the turbulent region. In addition, eddies of similar type tended to occur in pairs or longer groups with their centres separated in the stream direction.