Blockage Ratio Research Articles

Numerical investigation of air entrainment and outlet temperature characteristics of an infrared suppression device with obstacles

Infrared suppression devices (IRS) are crucial for stealth capabilities of modern naval ships and fighter jets. This study numerically investigates the air entrainment and outlet temperature characteristics of an IRS device with conical and spherical obstacles using finite volume method, to solve continuity, momentum, energy, and eddy viscosity-based k-ε equations. We vary Reynolds number (Ren), blockage volume ratio (Vob/Vmf), funnel-overlap height (Hov/Dn), and the nozzle inlet temperature (Tin/Tinf) within the ranges of 3.23×105 to 1.914×106, 0 to 0.106, 0 to 0.653, and 1.243 to 2.577, respectively, to analyze their impacts on enhancement in air entrainment and attenuation in outlet temperature. We observed that the dimensional air entrainment rate monotonously increases with the Reynolds number, and the obstacles further improve air ingestion. The conical obstacle entrains 28.96% more air than the spherical obstacle at a same Reynolds number (Ren=3.225×105) and blockage ratio. The blockage ratio positively impacts on the air ingress; and the maximum air ingestion occurs at a blockage ratio of 0.0266. An IRS with the higher positive overlap-height of funnels promotes air ingress to suppress the outlet temperature. Within the studied overlap height range (0–0.49), air ingress is enhanced by 50% and 85.9%, respectively at Ren=3.225×105 and 1.914×106. At Ren=1.914×106, the IRS exhibits 1.67 times more air entrainment rate at Tin/Tinf=1.91 than at Tin/Tinf=1.2438.

Deciphering the Evolution of Inertial Migration in Serpentine Channels.

Serpentine channels coupling inertial and secondary flows enable effective particle focusing and separation, showing great potential in clinical diagnostics and drug screening. However, the nonsteady secondary flows in the serpentine channel make the evolution of inertial migration unclear, hindering the development and application of the serpentine channel. Herein, to refine the inertial migration mechanism, we established a model with varying curvature ratios to study the effect of secondary flow on particle migration in the serpentine channel. This method used direct numerical simulation (DNS) to calculate inertial lift, mapped the inertial lift to cross sections of the serpentine channel, and deciphered the inertial migration by using the Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT) method. The inertial migration of microparticles is experimentally investigated to validate the established numerical model. The results indicate that particle migration in serpentine channels follows a two-stage migration. An increase in secondary flow accelerates the second stage of the migration process while slowing the first stage process. Subsequently, we investigated the effects of different parameters, including Reynolds number, aspect ratio, and blockage ratio, on the equilibrium positions of particles, providing guidelines for the high-resolution separation of particles. Taking flow resistance into account, the dimensionless study makes the separation of arbitrary-sized particles possible. This work reveals the migration mechanism in serpentine channels, paving the way for the inertial separation of the particles.

Experimental investigation of the Eckert-Weise effect (aerodynamic cooling) of pair side-by-side circular cylinders in a compressible cross-flow

The rear surface of a thermally insulated circular cylinder placed in a subsonic high-velocity cross-flow is significantly cooled, this phenomenon is known as aerodynamic cooling or the Eckert–Weise effect. This effect is associated with the redistribution of the stagnation temperature (energy separation) in the unsteady vortex wake. Experiments show that the effect is maximal at Mach numbers of the free-stream flow of 0.5–0.7, resulting in negative values of the temperature recovery factor (the temperature of the cylinder rear surface becomes lower than the static temperature of the free-stream flow). In this case, the cooling of the rear surface can reach tens of degrees. This effect can be utilized as the basis for a novel energy separation device, as it enables heat transfer between flows with the same stagnation temperatures. As shown in a numerical study (Aleksyuk, 2021), the effect is highly sensitive to the flow interference behind side-by-side cylinders, this is especially important for its practical application. In this study, the aerodynamic cooling of a pair identical circular cylinders in side-by-side arrangement, is experimentally investigated within the Mach and Reynolds number ranges of M = 0.34–0.58 and ReD = 1.6∙105–3.1∙105. The cylinder spacing considered in this study (P/D = 1.1; 1.5; 2.0; 3.0; and 4.0, where P is the center-to-center cylinder spacing and D is the diameter) covered the key regimes of vortex interference, that is, single, bistable, and coupled vortex streets. Also, investigations were conducted for a single circular cylinder with the same diameter within the Mach and Reynolds number ranges of M = 0.34–0.68 and ReD = 1.6∙105–3.4∙105. The channel blockage ratio was found to be 8% for a single cylinder and 16% for a pair of cylinders. Consequently, this study focuses on confined flow or flow past a confined cylinder with a uniform profile of oncoming flow velocity. It is shown that the Eckert-Weise effect for the pair of cylinders can either increase or decrease depending on the interference regimes and is sensitive to the blockage ratio value.

Flow dynamics and heat transfer characteristics of flows past a zigzag cylinder in a bounded domain

A comprehensive numerical and experimental study is conducted to investigate the flow dynamics and heat transfer characteristics of flows past a novel wavy-axis circular cylinder placed symmetrically between two parallel walls. For comparison, the flow past a corresponding straight-axis cylinder within the same bounded domain is also studied. The investigations were primarily conducted at Reynolds numbers of 626 and 680, based on the average velocity and diameter of the cylinder, with a blockage ratio of 0.42, based on the widest area of the channel. At these flow conditions, the straight cylinder expectedly showed a “reverse” von Kármán type wake. However, the special zigzag cylinder showed fundamentally distinct flow patterns at the wake leading to a significant drag reduction and a heat transfer enhancement, compared to the performance of the straight cylinder. The pressure drop of the zigzag cylinder is 14 % and 19.4 % lower than that of the straight cylinder, with a higher convective heat transfer coefficient of 24 % and 9 %, respectively, for Reynolds numbers of 626 and 680. The substantial drag reduction is attributed to the formation of steady flow pattern in the wake indicating the suppression of unsteady vortex shedding. The heat transfer enhancement was mainly caused by the formation of elongated vortical structures principally aligned in the streamwise direction. The creation of these streamwise vortex tubes tends to more efficiently mix the fluid between the near-wall area and the core region of the channel than the near-planar vortex shedding associated to the straight cylinder. It was shown that the 3D shape of the zigzag cylinder generates a spanwise velocity component, which results in the creation of a dominant streamwise vorticity component that eventually develops into sustained vortex tubes.

Heat transfer and fluid flow analysis of PCM-based thermal energy storage concept for double pass solar air heater

Solar air heaters (SAHs) are flat plate collectors used for drying applications without causing any negative impact to the environment. However, SAH suffers from two drawbacks: first is the low convective heat transfer due to formation of boundary layer along the absorber plate, and second is the low thermal efficiency resulting from the lack of solar energy available after sunshine hours. The present study aims to examine the heat transfer and friction factor characteristics of double-pass SAH using two composite roughness geometries: perforated baffles and semicylindrical PCM tubes. The study is conducted at design parameters: blockage ratio (eb/Hd) of 0.4 to 0.8 and tube radius ratios (rt/Hd) of 0.2 to 0.5 under different Reynolds numbers (Re) from 3000 to 13,000. The maximum Nusselt number (Nu) and friction factor (f) are determined to be 200 at Re of 13,000 and 0.629 at Re of 3000, respectively, for the constant value of rt/Hd as 0.3 and eb/Hd as 0.8. In the range of parameters analyzed, maximum increase in Nu and f is determined to be 5.08 times and 65.80 times, respectively, over the smooth duct. Furthermore, correlations are derived for Nu and f with mean absolute error of 4.7% and 3.8%, respectively.

A CFD Study on High‐Thrust Corrections for Blade Element Momentum Models

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a reanalysis of four axial‐flow rotor simulation datasets to study the relationship between thrust and axial induction factor. We concentrate on high‐thrust conditions and study variations in induction factor and loads across the span of the different rotor blades. The datasets consist of three different axial‐flow rotors operating at different tip‐speed ratios and, for one dataset, also at different blockage ratios. The reanalysis shows differences between the blade‐resolved CFD results and a widespread empirical turbulent wake model (TWM) used within blade element momentum (BEM) turbine models. These differences result in BEM models underestimating thrust and especially power for axial‐flow rotors operating in high‐thrust regimes. The accuracy of BEM model predictions are improved substantially by correcting this empirical TWM, producing better agreement with blade‐resolved CFD simulations for thrust and torque across most of the span of the blades of the three rotors. Additionally, the paper highlights deficiencies in tiploss modelling in common BEM implementations and highlights the impact of blockage on the relationship between thrust and axial induction factors.

Numerical and experimental investigation of a solar air heater duct with circular detached ribs to improve its efficiency

A solar air heater duct (SAH-duct) SAH-duct has low thermal performance due to the low heat transfer coefficient of air which is the working fluid. Proper mixing of relatively hot and cold air with respect to the hot absorber plate of the SAH-duct can enhance heat transfer. It can be achieved by placing suitable hindrances in the path of airflow like detached ribs. This study presents the numerical investigation of an asymmetrically heated 2D rectangular SAH-duct with in-line arranged circular detached ribs. In the geometrical configurations of the detached ribs; blockage ratio d/H, clearance ratio c/d, and relative longitudinal pitch ratio P/d are varied as 0.04–0.48, 0.1–1.2, and 05–50 respectively at Reynolds number Re 3000–15000 to study their effect on the thermal-hydraulic performance of the SAH-duct. Local and space-averaged thermal-fluid properties like heat transfer coefficient, and friction factor, Nusselt number, pressure coefficient, etc. are discussed through the graphical illustrations and contour plots. The various dimensions of the ribs are varied to find the optimum geometrical configuration of the detached ribs.

Numerical study of fluid flow and convective heat transfer over multi-cylindrical obstacles in a channel using the lattice Boltzmann method

The aim of this work is devoted to study the hydrodynamic and thermal behavior of fluid flowing around multi-cylindrical obstacles confined inside a 2D plane horizontal channel with constant-cool parallel plates. For this purpose, numerical simulations using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) based on double-distribution functions (DDFs) with a D2Q9 scheme is used to compute both velocity and temperature fields. The developed model is validated against established analytical and numerical results available in literature and the deviation does not exceed 2%. For a comprehensive parametric study, numerous calculations have been done for several parameters such as Reynolds number ( 10 ≤ Re ≤ 200 ), Prandtl number ( 0.1 ≤ Pr ≤ 2 ), blockage ratio ( 1 / 8 ≤ β ≤ 1 / 2 ) and number of obstacles. Effects on heat transfer evolution and flow characteristics are analyzed. Results are presented in terms of streamlines, isotherms and Nusselt numbers. The findings reveal a significant influence of the number of cylinders on both temperature and velocity distributions inside the channel. The average Nusselt number exhibits a linear correlation with Reynolds number, reaching a peak value at Re = 200 . These observations highlight the potential of LBM as an accurate and efficient tool to simultaneously predict the dynamic and thermal behavior of fluid flows in heat exchangers.

Effect of low blockage ratio obstacle on explosion characteristic in methane/air mixture

Methane/air explosion is one of the common hazards in process and mining industries. In this study, the methane explosion propagation is studied, and two-dimensional configuration is considered. The gas phase equations are solved using an OpenFOAM code for compressible reacting flow, EXiFOAM. The effects of the low blockage ratio (LBR) obstacles are investigated. The results show that the flame propagation speed, flame structure, shock wave propagation, and gas flow are considerably affected by LBR obstacles. Specifically, the flame propagation speed first increases and then decreases. As the initial pressure increases, the flame propagation speed gradually increases. The maximum speed is up to 500 m/s, when the initial pressure is 1.5 MPa. If the flame propagation is prevented, resulting in the flame deformation. Moreover, the flame disruptive phenomenon is captured due to the reflected waves. In front of the obstacle, the cellular structures of the high-pressure distribution are formed. Note that the tiny cellular structures are produced in the wake of the leading shock. Furthermore, a high-speed flow region and two low-speed flow regions are produced around the LBR obstacles. It is found that as the initial pressure increases, the explosion pressure is larger, while the temperature change is not obvious. These research findings have implications for enhancing safety production in coal mines.

Tsunami inundation and flow velocity within a partially sheltered structural array

ABSTRACT This work examines tsunami run-up processes within a building array partially sheltered by a high-elevation, finite length, seawall. Work was performed using numerical modeling of 2D shallow water equations with varying seawall length, wave height, time scale, and structure size. Inundation depth and flow velocity were output at many locations of interest throughout the structural array. The most important influence on results when compared to the no-wall case was the sheltering or clearance angle as defined from the end of the wall. Behind the wall, inundation depth and cross-shore velocity declined significantly as sheltering angles increased (more sheltered). Alongshore inundation velocity (parallel to the seawall) increased strongly with increasing sheltering angle. A longer wave time scale resulted in significant increase in inundation depth and velocity especially at locations sheltered by the wall. Larger structure size or blockage ratio also led to increased inundation depth and flow velocity. However, varying wave height gave little change in inundation and velocity patterns. These results will serve to provide a better understanding of the wave inundation within a coastal urban region in a tsunami event when the seawall is breached, as well as the influence of coastal structure size and spacing on the tsunami inundation.

An Optimization Study of Circumferential Groove Casing Treatment in a High-Speed Axial Flow Compressor

In this paper, a numerical optimization study of single-groove casing treatment was conducted on a high-speed axial compressor. One of the aims is to find the optimal structure of a single groove that can improve compressor stability with minimal loss in efficiency. Another aim is to explore suitable parameters for rapidly evaluating the compressor stall margin. A design optimization platform has been constructed in this paper, which utilizes NSGA-II and a Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural net model to carry out the optimization. The stall margin of the compressor with A single groove was accurately determined by calculating its entire overall performance line. A Pareto front is obtained through optimization, and the optimal design can be selected from the Pareto front. By considering both stall margin and efficiency loss, one of the optimal designs was found to achieve a 7.49% improvement in stall margin with a 0.24% improvement in peak efficiency. Based on the database, the effect of design parameters of a single groove on compressor stability and performance is analyzed. A series of evaluation parameters of stall margin were compared to their degree of correlation with the real stall margin calculated by the entire overall performance line. As a result, tip blockage and momentum ratio can be used as efficient parameters for quickly evaluating the compressor stall margin without the need to calculate the entire performance curve of the compressor.

Hydrogen explosion characteristics in the obstructed chamber by changing blockage ratio among adjacent obstacles

Using the experimental and large eddy simulation (LES) methods, the impacts of equivalence ratio and adjacent obstacle blockage ratio on flame propagation, flame moving velocity, and explosion overpressure in a closed obstructed duct are investigated. The results indicate that the developed LES method is able to reproduce the tendency of flame propagation, flame moving velocity, and explosion overpressure of BR = 30%, 50%, 70% and BR = 70%, 50%, 30%. The early flame propagation and flame moving velocity are not affected by the first obstacle. As the explosion flame passes through the three obstacles, the flame acceleration and deceleration occur in sequence due to the decreasing cross-section and vortex-flame interaction, eventually forming three ascending peak flame moving velocity. The higher vorticity magnitude of BR = 70%, 50%, 30% and BR = 30%, 50%, 70% is mainly concentrated in the early stage and later stage of hydrogen explosion, which directly results in the fact that the flame acceleration and rise rate of explosion overpressure of BR = 70%, 50%, 30% is higher than that of BR = 30%, 50%, 70%. Additionally, the maximum value of flame moving velocity and explosion overpressure of BR = 30%, 50%, 70% is higher than that of BR = 70%, 50%, 30%.

Enhancing safety in hydrogen refuelling stations: Computational analysis of hydrogen explosion hazards

AbstractThis paper aims to enhance the understanding of hydrogen explosions in hydrogen refuelling stations and evaluate associated risk factors using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The model is first validated against the measured data for hydrogen dispersion and explosion. Different scenarios are then modelled to understand the ignition timing and location. The study estimates acceptable distances to minimize asset damage and human injury from explosion incidents. It has been found that higher wind speeds lead to faster and more extensive dispersion of the hydrogen gas released during a leak. In addition, since strong wind can act as a powerful driving force for the shock wave, the impact of the explosion is found to be less. Interestingly, moving the source of ignition to regions with higher hydrogen concentration has a marginal impact on overpressure and temperature; however, the blockage ratio can significantly amplify the overpressure. It is found that cases with high blockage, including storage room, and cases with large volumes of flammable cloud, including leakage from compressor towards the ground, have the highest hazards. The findings will provide valuable insights into fire and explosion prevention in various areas of hydrogen refuelling stations and contribute to safer hydrogen infrastructure construction.

Numerical Study of Vortex Effect on Splitter Plate under Turbulence Flow over Circular Cylinder

Vortex shedding is commonly observed in both natural and artificial situations. Two key variables, the blockage ratio and the Reynolds number, determine the flow characteristics around a confined bluff body. The goal of the current study was to apply numerical simulation to examine the development of vortices in a continuous turbulence flow at the distanced position of a single splitter plate. As a starting point, the flow around a fixed circular cylinder and plate is examined at various spaced position ratios, where *L ratios are defined as the distance between the cylinder's centre and the plate's front edge. In the wake of the cylinder, when *L is raised, positive and negative vortices are generated. The pressure distribution following the vortex sheddingcore strike is felt at the plate face tip (starting edge). Compared to the other two positions, the CL created by L2 is larger and receives better cortex hits.

Experimental study on flow field and combustion characteristics of V-gutter and integrated flameholders

Abstract To optimize the integrated flameholder, PIV was used to study flow fields of V-gutter and integrated flameholder under both non-reacting and reacting conditions. PLIF, high-speed cameras, and TDLAS were adopted to capture OH distribution, flame structure, and temperature distribution. Comparative analysis of flow fields, combustion characteristics and flame stabilization mechanisms were analyzed. Results show that heat release increases adverse pressure gradient, which can enlarge the recirculation zone size and recirculation rate compared to non-reacting flow field. The flames of both flameholders exhibit symmetrical structures distributed near the shear layers. The blockage ratio dominates the non-reacting flow field, while the expansion angle dominates the reacting flow field, which can further increase the adverse pressure gradient under reacting condition. The V-gutter flameholder demonstrates better fuel/air mixing and larger recirculation than the integrated flameholder. The combustion performance of the integrated flameholder is inferior to the V-gutter flameholder, albeit with better flow resistance properties.

Impact of the blockage ratio and void fraction of porous obstacle on gas explosion characteristics in semi-confined channel

This study conducted various explosion experiments under different porous obstacle conditions of blockage ratio (BR) and void fraction (Φf). The impact of porous obstacle on flame propagation velocity (v) and peak overpressure (Pop) were analyzed. The results indicate that an increase in the BR enhances explosion pressure near the blockage area for both porous and non-porous obstacles. However, it also increases the downstream pressure decline gradient. An increase in the Φf weakens the hindrance of porous obstacle on the flame propagation, allowing more flame to pass through the internal void channels of obstacles, thus delaying the downstream pressure decay. Compared to non-porous obstacles, gas explosions disturbed by porous obstacles with both high BR (BR＞75%) and high Φf (Φf＞0.55) exhibit a lower downstream pressure decline gradient and a longer positive pressure duration. As a result, the explosion can produce a broader range of destruction.

Investigating the synergy of blockage ratio and external cold heat exchanger in standing-wave thermoacoustic engines: An experimental study

Thermoacoustic engines (TAE) offer a promising avenue for converting low-grade heat into useable energy. Despite its simplicity in fabrication, designing thermoacoustic engines face efficiency challenges hindering their widespread adoption. One key obstacle faced by current thermoacoustic devices is their lack of efficiency. The core components of TAE are the stack, Cold Heat Exchanger (CHX), Hot Heat Exchanger (CHX) and the resonator. These components are crucial in advancing the performance of thermoacoustic engines. The CHX keeps the working gas cool, which is essential for the engine to function efficiently and create the desired acoustic wave. However, many existing efforts in this field have not taken into consideration the effect of the CHX design which may have effect on the operating temperature and the engines performance. This study examines the influence of different CHX blockage ratios (28 %, 36 %, 42 %, 47 %, and 59 %), along with the addition of an external CHX, on performance metrics. Measurements were conducted using air at room temperature and atmospheric pressure to assess temperature difference, startup time, volumetric velocity, and sound pressure levels. Key findings indicate that Efficiency directly correlates with volumetric velocity and inversely with onset temperature. Even though decreasing the blockage ratio increases operating temperature, it lengthens startup and reduces volumetric velocity, suggesting increased axial conduction. In addition, External CHX lowers operating temperature, reducing volumetric velocity and sound pressure. Interestingly, resonance frequency remains unaffected by CHX blockage ratio changes. An optimal configuration with a 42–47 % blockage ratio achieves 5.92 m/s velocity, 136 s startup time, and 77 °C onset temperature. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing thermoacoustic engine efficiency and advancing their potential as sustainable energy solutions.

One-dimensional analysis of pressure variations induced by trains passing each other in a tunnel

In this study, the asymptotic solutions of the pressure variations induced by two trains passing each other in a tunnel are theoretically investigated. The one-dimensional inviscid compressible airflow is analysed, and two methods to obtain numerically exact solutions and $M_{H}$ expansion formulas for approximate equations are presented, where $M_{H}$ is the Mach number of the high-speed train. The pressure coefficient, corresponding to the maximum value of the magnitude of the pressure, is expressed as $|c_{p}|_{max}=|c_{p,min}|=[({R}/({1-R}))$ $(1+\alpha )^{2}+({R(1-R)}/{(1-2R)^{2}})(1-\alpha )^{2}]+O[M_{H}]$ , where $c_{p,min}<0$ , $\alpha =U_{L}/U_{H}$ and $U_{L}$ and $U_{H}$ denote the speeds of the low- and high-speed trains, respectively, and $R$ is the cross-sectional area ratio of the train to the tunnel. The theoretical results indicate the dependence of the speeds of the two trains on the pressure distribution and that the maximum magnitude of the asymptotic pressure for a fixed value of $M_{H}$ is obtained for $\alpha =1$ and $\alpha =0$ when $R< R_{c}$ and $R>R_{c}$ , respectively, where $R_{c}$ denotes the critical blockage ratio. Because the airflow along the side of the low-speed train, induced by the low-speed train, is along the running direction of the high-speed train and reduces the relative velocity of the high-speed train as the two trains pass each other, $|c_{p}|_{max}$ for $\alpha =0$ is larger than $|c_{p}|_{max}$ for $\alpha =1$ when $R>R_{c}$ . It is theoretically demonstrated that, as conventional high-speed railway systems satisfy $R< R_{c}$ , a conservative pressure estimation can be established assuming $\alpha =1$ .

Effect of composition gradient on detonation initiation in fuel-rich hydrogen-air mixtures in an obstructed channel

Numerical simulations were performed to study the effect of composition gradient and obstacle arrangement on detonation initiation in fuel-rich hydrogen-air mixtures. A third-order WENO method with adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) was used to solve the unsteady, fully-compressible, reactive Navier-Stokes equations coupled to a calibrated chemical-diffusive model (CDM). An obstructed channel at a blockage ratio of 0.3 filled with non-uniform hydrogen-air mixtures of an average H2 concentration 50 vol% was considered. The results show that unilateral obstacle arrangement is more conducive to flame acceleration (FA) and DDT than bilateral obstacle arrangement for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous mixtures. For inhomogeneous mixtures, the flame accelerates faster, and the detonation onset time is shorter when obstacles are placed on the sidewall with a hydrogen concentration closer to the stoichiometric ratio than the those when obstacles are placed on the other sidewall. However, the placement of unilateral obstacles on either the upper or lower sidewall does not significantly affect the DDT run-up distance. Besides, for fuel-rich inhomogeneous hydrogen-air mixtures, detonation tends to be initiated in the regions of high H2 concentration. Idealized models were introduced to simplify the intricate interactions of the reaction waves and flow fields to better understand the connection between H2 concentration distribution and detonation initiation. The analysis suggests that the minimum shock strength required for detonation initiation decreases with increasing equivalence ratio. This is supported by a kinetics analysis with detailed reaction model, which shows that ignition delay increases with decreasing equivalence ratio when detonation is about to be initiated.

Vortex-shedding and bistability in cylinder-flexible plate assembly in a channel

This study numerically investigates the fluid–structure interaction dynamics of a stationary circular cylinder with an attached flexible splitter plate in a confined fluid domain. We explore how variations in Reynolds number (Re), plate length, offset from the channel centerline, and blockage ratio influence the vortex-shedding and oscillatory behavior of the plates in laminar flow. Results indicate that at low Reynolds numbers (Re = 100), there are no vortex shedding or oscillations, while at higher Reynolds (Re = 200 to 300), the shorter plate exhibits first-mode oscillations and symmetry breaking, whereas the longer plate shows only transient second-mode oscillations at Re = 300 that diminish in amplitude, suggesting that increased plate length reduces vortex-induced forces. Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) analysis confirms consistent primary flow structures across different Reynolds numbers, with initial modes encapsulating the majority of the system’s dynamics. In addition to determining the critical Re for vortex-shedding, vortex-induced oscillations and bistability, the study also examines the critical blockage ratios on the symmetry breaking phenomenon, and also shows that plate stability is influenced by domain asymmetry. These insights enhance understanding of the biomechanics of fish-like robots and inform the design and control of bioinspired flexible structures in fluid flows.