3 - Bluff Body Wakes

Summary

Chapter 3 focuses on the control of bluff-body wakes, where a bluff body is generally categorized as one whose length in the flow direction is approximately the same as its height. Such shapes exhibit a wide wake on the scale of the body height, with aerodynamic drag that is dominated by a low-pressure region that forms in the near wake of the body. Bluff body wakes are complex and highly unsteady, involving boundary layer flow separation and multiple shear layer interactions. The control of bluff body aerodynamics has practical implications to airfoils at high angles of attack, aircraft landing gear, ground vehicles, and buildings and structures. Methods of control that key on the wake instabilities are presented.