Flow characteristics in the separated shear layer

Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) is used to measure flow characteristics in the separated flow over a prism. Mean vorticity, rms fluctuations, Reynolds stresses, and mean turbulent kinetic energy are presented. Three different Reynolds numbers (Re = 2500, 9000, and 16500) are considered. The results show that, at the low Reynolds number, the vorticity level is relatively small. As the Reynolds number increases, the level of vorticity increases, reversing flow takes place in a small region near the solid surface and turbulence levels increase throughout the shear layer. In addition, the maximum vorticity inside the separation bubble is strongly related with the regions of maximum Reynolds stresses and turbulent kinetic energy.