Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1259 - 1262 (1997)Cell Formation in Cylinder Wakes at Low Reynolds Numbers |
PRL Celebrates 50 Years
This Week's Milestone Letters are from 1981: |
T. Leweke1,2, M. Provansal1, G. D. Miller2, and C. H. K. Williamson2
1Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Équilibre, UMR 6594 CNRS / Universités Aix-Marseille I & II, Faculté de Saint-Jérôme, Service 252, F-13397 Marseille Cédex 20, France
2Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Upson Hall, Ithaca, New York 14853-7501
Received 4 June 1996
We propose a mechanism for the previously unexplained formation of spanwise cells observed in the vortex street wake of finite-length cylindrical bluff bodies at low Reynolds numbers. It involves the spatial growth of the secondary Eckhaus instability of oblique vortex shedding, controlled by end effects, and leads to a new interpretation of observed wake frequency relations. Predictions of cell size variations and wake patterns are obtained from the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau model, and good agreement is found with experimental observations.
©1997 The American Physical Society
URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v78/p1259
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.1259
PACS: 47.27.Vf, 47.20.Ft, 47.20.Lz, 47.54.+r
[ Abstract | Previous article | Next article | Issue 7 ]
About PROLA | Terms and Conditions | Subscriptions | Search | Help
Content in PROLA © 2008 by The American Physical Society All rights reserved. PROLA™ is a trademark of The American Physical Society. Use of APS online journals implies that the user has read and agrees to the Terms and Conditions in the Subscription Agreement.