Particle image velocimetry measurements of massively separated turbulent flows with rotation

Abstract

Measurements of instantaneous velocity fields in the separated flow downstream of a backward-facing step in a rotating channel are presented for the first time. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements were made for 13 different rotation numbers Ro at a bulk flow Reynolds number of about 5600. The expansion ratio 2:1 was the same as in the flow visualization study by Rothe and Johnston [ASME J. Fluids Eng. 101, 117 (1979)] which covered about the same range of Ro. The measured mean flow pattern exhibited substantial variations with the rate of system rotation. In particular, the length of the primary separation bubble decreased monotonically with increasing anti-cyclonic rotation and increased with increasing rate of cyclonic rotation, in keeping with the earlier observations. At the highest anti-cyclonic rotation rate, the flow field also separated from the planar wall where the shear layer flow was subjected to cyclonic rotation. The PIV data for the in-plane components of the Reynolds stress tensor were severely affected by the imposed system rotation. Almost all the striking affects of the Coriolis force observed herein could be explained by means of the exact production terms in the transport equation for the second-moments of the velocity fluctuations. These changes were in turn consistent with the observed alterations of the mean flow field.