Influence of splitter plate on the reverse flow in a channel

Abstract

Reverse flow inside a parallel plate channel can be achieved by placing an obstruction at the entry. The present work is carried out to study the influence of (i) splitter plates behind the flat plate obstruction at the front end and (ii) splitter plates placed at the rear end of the channel in tandem with the obstruction at the front. The results show that the splitter plate at the front end has a slight unfavourable effect due to a little reduction in the reverse flow. However, when the splitter plate is placed at the rear end, it interferes with the alternate formation and shedding of vortices near the rear end. This interference depends upon the length of the splitter plate and also on its position relative to the exit of the test channel. The resulting flow field causes an increase in the magnitude of the reverse flow which remains constant over a wide range of splitter plate positions.