Vortex Street Research Articles

A comprehensive assessment of gap spacing in tandem cylinders: Lattice Boltzmann technique based simulations

The current study uses the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to analyze flow phenomena around the five square cylinders in a tandem setup. It examines flow characteristics for different gap spacing (g*), ranging from 0.5 to 8 at a Reynolds number Re = 100, and identifies three distinct flow modes: steady flow mode, partially unsteady flow mode, and partially packed vortex street in a single row. It is found that the flow modes reported in literature for the case of inline bodies exist for the present case as well but with a different range of gap ratios. The strength of vorticity in the wakes of the first three upstream cylinders is found to be increasing thus enhancing the Strouhal number as the gap ratio between cylinders increased. The drag mean coefficient (Cdmean) is found to increase with an increase in gap spacing values, while negative Cdmean values are observed for cylinders C2 and C3 in the steady flow mode, due to the emergence of thrust force. The average drag coefficient is found to be minimal for C2 until g* = 6 compared to other cylinders, while for C1 it is found to be higher across all gap spacings. The local minimum average drag coefficient value of 0.1824 is observed for C2 at g* = 1.5 while the local maximum Cdmean value of 1.2849 is observed for C1 at g* = 8 in this study. A similar shedding frequency emerges for the first three cylinders which mostly spanned over the partially packed single row vortex street flow mode. The research also reveals that g* = 4 is the critical spacing value for abrupt fluid flow changes.

Near wake evolution of a tidal stream turbine due to asymmetric sheared turbulent inflow with different integral length scales

Tidal stream turbines deployed at highly energetic open water sites are subjected to sheared inflow in the rotor plane. The inflow shear is expected to cause asymmetric loading on the rotor blades and affect the downstream wake. In the current study, two different turbulent inflow conditions, static-high shear and dynamic shear, were generated via an active-grid turbulence generator. A 1:20 scaled three-bladed horizontal axis tidal turbine model was tested in those conditions. The results were compared to a quasi-laminar case with no imposed turbulence or shear. The results show that the high shear reduces the average performance, with a drop of up to 16% in the optimal power coefficient. Besides, the shear profiles increase torque fluctuations and induce significant differences in wake hydrodynamics between the high-speed (upper) and low-speed (lower) regions. The large integral length scales further enhance the load fluctuations perceived by the rotor but have a negligible effect on the mean wake field quantities. The wake recovery was found to be ∼2 to 4 times faster in the upper half region than in the lower region in the near wake. The lower half region featured a faster breakdown of tip vortex structure and a rapid drop of swirl number, a phenomenon conjectured to be a consequence of the strong turbulence intensities and Reynolds stresses in the lower half region. The sheared turbulent inflow also results in a very intensive energy redistribution process towards large-scale, low-frequency motions, which is important to the downstream turbines.

Effect of rotation on wake vortices in stratified flow

Stratified wakes past an isolated conical seamount are simulated at a Froude number of $Fr = 0.15$ and Rossby numbers of $Ro = 0.15$ , 0.75 and $\infty$ . The wakes exhibit a Kármán vortex street, unlike their unstratified, non-rotating counterpart. Vortex structures are studied in terms of large-scale global modes, as well as spatially localised vortex evolution, with a focus on rotation effects. The global modes are extracted by spectral proper orthogonal decomposition (SPOD). For all three studied $Ro$ ranging from mesoscale, submesoscale and non-rotating cases, the frequency of the SPOD modes at different heights remains coupled as a global constant. However, the shape of the SPOD modes changes from slanted ‘tongues’ at zero rotation ( $Ro=\infty$ ) to tall hill-height columns at strong rotation ( $Ro=0.15$ ). A novel method for vortex centre tracking shows that, in all three cases, the vortices at different heights advect uniformly at approximately $0.9U_{\infty }$ beyond the near wake, consistent with the lack of variability of the global modes. Under system rotation, cyclonic vortices and anticyclonic vortices (AVs) present considerable asymmetry, especially at $Ro = 0.75$ . The vorticity distribution as well as the stability of AVs are tracked downstream using statistics conditioned to the identified vortex centres. At $Ro=0.75$ , intense AVs with relative vorticity up to $\omega _z/f_{c}=-2.4$ (where $\omega_z$ is the vertical vorticity and $f_c$ is the Coriolis frequency) are seen with small regions of instability and they maintain large $\omega _z/f_{c}$ magnitude in the far wake. Recent stability analysis that accounts for stratification and viscosity is found to improve on earlier criteria and show that these intense AVs are stable.

Optimizing vortex-induced vibration suppression in π-shaped girders using wind tunnel testing and CFD analysis

This investigation meticulously explores the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) characteristics in Π-shaped girders within long-span cable-stayed bridges, presenting novel VIV mitigation techniques. Employing detailed wind tunnel evaluations of a 1:50 scale model alongside computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses to model the two-dimensional flow around the girder, this study reveals the formation and shedding of vortices behind the railings and main steel girder, which significantly contribute to VIV in such structures. The introduction of horizontal splitter plates, one m in width, in conjunction with two-m-wide V-shaped guide vanes, was found to substantially reduce the VIV amplitude of the Π-shaped girder, minimizing vortex generation on the deck’s sides and dramatically reducing the maximum vertical VIV amplitude from 208.75 mm to only 5.56 mm. CFD simulations confirm the effectiveness of these measures in suppressing Karman vortex street formation, thereby significantly improving downstream airflow characteristics. These findings offer pivotal insights for the advancement of bridge design and the proactive management of VIV, showcasing the potential of integrated aerodynamic modifications to enhance structural resilience and performance.

Analysis of flow and energy dissipation in pump turbine with small guide vane opening

In this study, a detailed flow state analysis of a reversible pump turbine (RPT) under small guide vane opening conditions was conducted using both numerical simulation and experimental methods on three analysis planes at 0.5 span. The entropy production rate (EPR) in entropy production theory was utilized to visualize the location and magnitude of energy losses in the flow process. The focus was placed on the coherent vortex structures in the volute, stay vane, guide vane, and runner flow path. The results demonstrate that, throughout the runner’s cycle, the leading edge of the guide vane experiences low-pressure regions with uneven pressure distribution within the runner channel. Velocity streamlines reveal flow separation and vortex generation at the typical guide vane trailing edge, with a maximum velocity reaching 49.7. Analysis of radial force and torque on typical guide vanes and the runner indicates that radial force and torque on the guide vanes do not significantly change, with the radial force coefficient CF r−x varying between 0.254 and 1.3. Major energy losses are concentrated behind the trailing edge of the guide vane, primarily in the form of jet wake. Coherent vortex structures are observed in the volute, stay vane, guide vane, and runner flow path, with slight turbulent wake at the trailing edge of the stay vane, clear shedding vortex streets, and vortex build-up in the bladeless area between the guide vane and the runner.

Enhancing tip vortices to improve the lift production through shear layers in flapping-wing flow control

Flow control of a low-aspect-ratio flat-plate heaving wing at an average angle of attack of $10^{\circ }$ by a steady-blowing jet is numerically studied by using a feedback immersed boundary–lattice Boltzmann method. Blowing jets at the leading edge, mid-chord and trailing edge are considered. The wing enjoys the highest lift production with the trailing-edge downstream blowing jet, which improves the average lift by 50.0 % at $Re = 1000$ and 22.9 % at $Re = 5000$ through the enhancement of the tip vortex circulation caused by the increase in the mass flux of the shear layer at the wing tips. This increase in mass flux decreases as $Re$ increases from 1000 to 5000 due to its self-limiting mechanism. A mid-chord vertical blowing jet induces a middle vortex which enhances the lift production but the enhancement is smaller than that of trailing-edge downstream blowing jet. Other jet arrangements do not significantly increase the lift coefficient, but the mid-chord upstream blowing jet experiences a significant reduction in the drag coefficient, leading to an increase of 50.6 % in the average lift-to-drag ratio. The effectiveness of the flow control is not significantly affected by the aspect ratio.

Noise Source Identification for the Unsteady Low-Pressure Turbine Flow Fields

Abstract The article presents a data processing methodology to identify the noise sources in low-pressure turbine (LPT) stages and their relative importance. Scale adaptive simulation (SAS) has been carried out on a geometry reproducing the midspan blade section of an entire LPT stage. The proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is applied to data matrices constructed with the velocity and the pressure fields in order to distinctly extract the coherent structures responsible for velocity fluctuations and pressure waves (i.e., POD modes from the corresponding kernel), their temporal evolution and energies. The cross-correlation matrices of the pressure modes and the velocity modes reveal the degree of coupling between pressure and velocity oscillations, thus highlighting the modes linked to the same flow phenomena. The results show that the periodic vortex shedding at the stator trailing edge emits strong pressure waves, and the upstream-propagating waves reflect against the adjacent stator suction surface. The POD modes related to the rotor–stator interaction show peak amplitudes at the blade passing frequency and its harmonics and their shapes mimic the potential interaction in the stator domain and the migration of viscous wakes in the rotor domain. The POD modes with lower energy content correspond to the stochastic turbulent structures originated from the turbulent boundary layers as well as those carried by the vane and blade wakes. The biggest noise sources of the current flow fields are identified to be the von Karman vortex street downstream the stator trailing edge and the rotor–stator interaction.

How Emergent Vegetation Patch Shapes Affect Flow Structure in Open Channel Environments

ABSTRACTVegetation patches, which naturally occur in a variety of patterns, have an impact on the flow dynamics and geometry of rivers. There have been prior studies on vegetation patches, but none have examined the impact of differently shaped vegetation patch, i.e., circle, square and rectangle, and the comparison of these varying patch shapes from an ecological point of view. Hence, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique using FLUENT has been employed in the present research to evaluate the flow dynamics and turbulence characteristics around emergent vegetation patches of various forms in an open channel. The results show that the shape of vegetation patches had a significant impact on the approaching flow, with circular patch offering the highest flow resistance among all other configurations. Flow shedding behaviour behind the patch was also prominent in the case of circular patch shape with a formation of large Kármán vortex street with vortex sizes up to 1.5 times the patch diameter. In the downstream region of vegetation patch, a reduction of 25%–30% in the mean streamwise velocity was observed for circular patch, whereas a 15% decrease was observed for rectangular and square patches. The outcomes of this study found that flow turbulence and stability in the open channel are significantly influenced by vegetation patch shape. This research reveals that the shape of vegetation patches, particularly circular configuration, significantly influences flow dynamics, thereby enhancing habitat complexity in riverine ecosystems. These findings are vital for developing informed river restoration and management strategies that support biodiversity and promote ecological resilience.

Numerical investigation on the end effects of the flow past a finite rotating circular cylinder with two free ends

This paper studies the impact of the aspect ratio and free end shape on the end effects in the flow past a rotating circular cylinder with two flat, radiused, hemispherical, and conical ends, using the large eddy simulation method at a Reynolds number of 4.6×104. The aspect ratio in the range of 6–30 and the rotation rate in the range of 0–3, are investigated. The results show that the mean drag coefficient initially decreases slightly before rapidly increasing with the rotation rate, with a critical rotation rate that rises from 1 to 1.5 as the aspect ratio increases from 6 to 30. In contrast, the mean lift coefficient increases with both the rotation rate and the aspect ratio. When the rotation rate increases and the aspect ratio decreases, the differences between the aerodynamic coefficients of the four end shapes become more pronounced. The flat end results in the highest mean drag and lift coefficients, while the hemispherical end yields the lowest ones. In addition, when the rotation rate increases, the alternate shedding vortices shift to the opposite side. They even disappear and increase the elongated streamwise vortices. Due to the combined impacts of the rotation and end effects, large-scale tip vortices are formed, significantly altering the wake structure. The intense rotation effect results in expanding the strong influence region of the end effects and shrinking (or even removing) the weak influence region.

Wada Basins Colourings and Ergodicity

The stable Birkhoff curve ergodic properties in dissipative situation have been discussed. The points of every regions have been coloured with their own colour, such that their common boundary would turns out to be white at the colours adding together. Quantitative conditions for colouring regions for boundary discolouration have been obtained. The prime example of the dynamic system action with fixed B- saddle and Birkhoff curve being four regions common boundary has been constructed. There subsist the Birkhoff curves different topologic types. For every Birkhoff curves can constructed to be two or more vortex streets with periodic structure.The regions colouring turns out to be the topological classification instrument.

Aerodynamic Analysis of Rotor Spacing and Attitude Transition in Tilt-Powered Coaxial Rotor UAV

Complex aerodynamic characteristics and optimal control during the attitude transition of tilt-powered coaxial twin-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) represent key challenges in flight control design. This study investigates aerodynamic mechanisms and control parameter optimization during the transition of UAVs from vertical to forward flight. By establishing a dynamic model and combining theoretical and numerical analyses, the optimal rotor spacing is determined to be h = 0.5 R. The load distribution and aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft are analyzed at different initial tilt angles during attitude transitions. At an initial tilt angle of δ = 9°, the thrust force increases by 439% compared with that at δ = 3°, and the tip speed increases by 15% and 35% compared with that at δ = 3° and δ = 13°, respectively. The results indicate that a tilt angle of δ = 9° results in a higher turbulent dissipation rate and rotor layout efficiency, with a smoother vortex flow and more orderly distribution. The interference between the twin-rotor tip vortices is relatively weak, resulting in excellent symmetry and aerodynamic stability. Through the improvement of the theoretical model and parameter optimization of a novel tilt-powered coaxial twin-rotor UAV, this study enhances UAV flight stability and provides valuable insights and validation for the further development of UAV technology.

Hydrodynamic analysis of a round-ended caisson in submerging

ABSTRACT Flow around a round-ended caisson in the submerging process is investigated using the k − ω SST turbulent model and the volume of fluid (VOF) method in the present study. Six types of vortex structures around the round-ended caisson are identified, i.e. the neck vortex in front of the cylinder near the free surface, the attached vortex below the free end surface, the tip vortex originating from the free end, the spanwise vortex on the side surface, the U-shaped vortex behind the cylinder and the trailing vortex in the wake. The influence of the free surface, free end and bottom boundary on vortexes are analysed. The physical generation mechanism of vorticity on the free end surface is discussed. Additionally, the drag coefficient increases with Fr when Fr < 1 and decreases with Fr when 1 ≤ Fr ≤ 1.8, and the run-up of the free surface increases with increasing Fr.

Large eddy simulation of a marine propeller with leading edge tubercles

The results of large eddy simulations on a cylindrical grid consisting of 5.8 × 109 points are reported, dealing with marine propellers with leading edge tubercles (LETs). They are compared with the performance and flow fields of the baseline geometry without tubercles. In general, the efficiency of propulsion is not improved, but a substantial effect is produced on the development of the flow across the propeller blades. The minima of pressure on the suction side of the blades are confined in the troughs of the leading edge, with the potential of reducing the overall extent of the area of cavitation (cavitation funneling effect). In addition, local maxima of turbulence are produced on the suction side of the blades by the onset of streamwise vortices at the troughs of the LETs. Although the wake development is slightly modified across blade geometries, no obvious influence of the LETs on the major wake structures is observed. Due to their early breakup, the vortices developing across the span of the propeller blades, including those originating at the LETs, are able to affect indeed a very short extent of the propeller wake. Its dynamics is still dominated by the tip and hub vortices, as for the conventional design of the propeller. Meanwhile, the intensity of the root vortices shed by the conventional propeller is substantially reduced in the wake of the tubercled propellers, thanks to the modified geometry of the blades at their root, resulting also in a slightly slower instability of the hub vortex.

Hydrodynamics investigation of a three-dimensional fish swimming in oblique flows by a ghost cell method

Fish in nature can encounter various flow environments. This paper numerically simulated a 3D (three-dimensional) carangiform fish swimming in oblique flow. The numerical model adopts a robust ghost cell method with graphics processing unit acceleration. The dynamic performance and the 3D wake evolutions are discussed under different Strouhal numbers and attack angles. It is found that the thrust along the swimming direction would get enhanced with more energy consumption as the Strouhal number (St) rises. The attack angle can get the similar but less significant effect. Also, the stall angle of θ = 40° is approximately determined, which is independent of the Strouhal number. However, the flexible deformation can reduce the adverse effects of the stall. In terms of the wake structures, they are transitioned from the two rows of vortex streets at St = 0.2 to the three rows at St = 0.6, and even to the four rows at St = 1. The connected oblique vortex ring rows induced by the undulating caudal fin contributes to the thrust and lateral forces dominantly. As the St rises, the vortex ring rows is transformed from the typical von Karman vortex streets to the reverse one, indicating the generation of thrust. The slender, parallel vortex contrails are caused by the detachment of leading-edge vortices (LEVs), and they induce the high-order harmonic components in force coefficients. The oblique angle of the vortex rings grows with the Strouhal number, while it is hardly affected by the attack angle. As the attack angle grows, the wake is turned from the disconnected hairpin vortices to the intertwined vortex rings and losses the spanwise symmetry. Moreover, the reattachment of the LEV is not observed after the stall angle.

Intrinsic characteristics of three-dimensional flow around a wall-mounted conical cylinder

To investigate the flow characteristics around a wall-mounted conical cylinder, three-dimensional direct numerical simulations are carried out for a conical cylinder with an end diameter ratio ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 at three low Reynolds numbers (Re = 100, 150, 200). The flow features are examined in terms of time-mean streamlines, singularity points location, topological structure, time-mean streamwise vortices, and instantaneous spanwise vortices denoted with different vortex identification methods. The downwash effect also happens even without a free end. The upwash streamlines clash with the downwash streamlines and then coalesce to the saddle (impingement) point P2. The occurrence of the symmetry plane belongs to a new topology, where the saddle point on the bottom wall is an attachment point (NA), instead of the separation point (SS). The singular point verifies the topological existence of the attachment–attachment combination of the horseshoe vortex system. The “Quadrupole Type,” “Sextupole Type,” and “Octupole Type” are identified. The “Octupole Type” is reported first, consisting of a pair of “time-mean streamwise tip vortices,” two pairs of “time-mean streamwise base vortices” and a pair of “time-mean streamwise bottom vortices.” Moreover, the vorticity magnitude cannot represent the occurrence of vortices. The instantaneous iso-surfaces of Q = 0.2 and λ2 = –0.2 in the wake are similar to the threshold of Ω = 0.52. In contrast, the Liutex/Rortex method is easier to identify the streamwise bottom vortices than the former two methods.

A numerical study on the oscillatory dynamics of tip vortex cavitation

In this paper, we numerically study the mechanism of the oscillatory flow dynamics associated with the tip vortex cavitation (TVC) over an elliptical hydrofoil section. Using our recently developed three-dimensional variational multiphase flow solver, we investigate the TVC phenomenon at Reynolds number $Re = 8.95 \times 10^5$ via dynamic subgrid-scale modelling and the homogeneous mixture theory. To begin, we examine the grid resolution requirements and introduce a length scale considering both the tip vortex strength and the core radius. This length scale is then employed to non-dimensionalize the spatial resolution in the tip vortex region, the results of which serve as a basis for estimation of the required mesh resolution in large eddy simulations of TVC. We next perform simulations to analyse the dynamical modes of tip vortex cavity oscillation at different cavitation numbers, and compare them with the semi-analytical solution. The breathing mode of cavity surface oscillation is extracted from the spatial-temporal evolution of the cavity's effective radius. The temporally averaged effective radius demonstrates that the columnar cavity experiences a growth region followed by decay as it progresses away from the tip. Further examination of the characteristics of local breathing mode oscillations in the growth and decay regions indicates the alteration of the cavity's oscillatory behaviour as it travels from the growth region to the decay region, with the oscillations within the growth region being characterized by lower frequencies. For representative cavitation numbers $\sigma \in [1.2,2.6]$ , we find that pressure fluctuations exhibit a shift of the spectrum towards lower frequencies as the cavitation number decreases, similar to its influence on breathing mode oscillations. The results indicate the existence of correlations between the breathing mode oscillations and the pressure fluctuations. While the low-frequency pressure fluctuations are found to be correlated with the growth region, the breathing mode oscillations within the decay region are related to higher-frequency pressure fluctuations. The proposed mechanism can play an important role in developing mitigation strategies for TVC, which can reduce the underwater radiated noise by marine propellers.

Computational Analysis of Flow Around Two Wall-Mounted Trapezoidal Bluff Bodies Arranged in Tandem Position

Abstract Flow around two identical wall-mounted trapezoidal bluff bodies, arranged in tandem, is numerically investigated at a Reynolds number of 750,000. The investigation employs Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and the k–ω SST turbulence model. The effect due to the change of the angular orientation of the inclined faces (α) of this bluff body and the pitch distance (L/D) on hydrodynamic quantities and turbulence quantities is investigated. Furthermore, the drag coefficient and Strouhal number have also been evaluated to understand the vortex shedding and flow pattern-related phenomena. For d and intermediate types of bluff bodies, the streamwise mean velocity, cross-stream mean velocity, turbulence kinetic energy, and recirculation length decrease with the increase of α or L/D. Significant changes are also observed in the case of Strouhal number. Reduction in drag coefficient and recirculation length is observed with increased L/D at a constant α for d-type bluff bodies. The change of α and L/D also creates the formation of a periodic von Kármán vortex street at downstream of the second bluff body in the case of L/D = 7, making the flows more complex and unstable. The maximum size of the recirculation bubble occurs in the case of L/D = 10 at α = 30 deg. The investigation provides valuable insight into the complex dynamics of tandem configurations of wall-mounted bluff bodies.

The impact of finite span and wing-tip vortices on a turbulent NACA0012 wing

High-fidelity simulations are conducted to investigate the turbulent boundary layers around a finite-span NACA0012 wing with a rounded wing-tip geometry at a chord-based Reynolds number of $Re_c=200\,000$ and at various angles of attack up to $10^\circ$ . The study aims to discern the differences between the boundary layers on the finite-span wing and those on infinite-span wings at equivalent angles of attack. The finite-span boundary layers exhibit: (i) an altered streamwise and a non-zero spanwise pressure gradient as a result of the variable downwash induced by the wing-tip vortices (an inviscid effect typical of finite-span wings); (ii) differences in the flow history at different wall-normal distances, caused by the variable flow angle in the wall-normal direction (due to constant pressure gradients and variable momentum normal to the wall); (iii) laminar flow entrainment into the turbulent boundary layers near the wing tip (due to a laminar–turbulent interface); and (iv) variations in boundary layer thickness across the span, attributed to the variable wall-normal velocity in that direction (a primarily inviscid effect). These physical effects are then used to explain the differences in the Reynolds stress profiles and other boundary layer quantities, including the reduced near-wall peak of the streamwise Reynolds stress and the elevated Reynolds stress levels near the boundary layer edge, both observed in the finite-span wings. Other aspects of the flow, such as the downstream development of wing-tip vortices and their interactions with the surrounding flow, are reserved for future investigations.

CFD study of propeller tip vortex cavitation

Tip vortex cavitation (TVC) caused by a marine propeller is a complex cavitating flow phenomenon, often featured by long helical trajectories making it challenging to simulate numerically. This paper presents a study on the CFD simulation of TVC with the focus on four key influence factors: mesh size, turbulence modeling, gas content, and Reynolds number. For the effect of mesh size, the simulations with different mesh refinement strategies show that the TVC is highly sensitive to mesh sizes and it is crucial to refine the mesh in the propeller wake. The adaptive mesh refinement method used in this study is shown to be effective in refining the mesh where the tip vortex locates. Compared with RANS (Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations) method, IDDES (Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation) method produces a noticeably better result since the dissipation of the tip vortex in the IDDES simulation is weaker. To suppress the dissipation of the tip vortices, vorticity confinement (VC) method is applied. The VC method significantly improved the TVC trajectory prediction for IDDES simulation, even with a less refined mesh, but it is not effective for RANS simulation. The effect of gas nuclei in water is considered by utilizing an Euler-Lagrangian method combined with a modified Schnarr-Sauer cavitation model in which a group of Lagrangian gas bubbles are used to model the non-condensable gas. The improvement on the TVC trajectory is notable by considering the air bubble effect. The effect of Reynolds number on TVC simulation is discussed by modifying the propeller's rotational speeds. Results show that the high Reynolds number gives a stronger tip vortex thus resulting in a longer TVC trajectory, but the improvement is limited compared with the effect of the other three influence factors.

Kármán Vortex Street in Bose-Einstein Condensate with PT Symmetric Potential

Abstract Kármán vortex street not only exists in nature, but also widely appears in engineering practice, which is of great significance for understanding superfluid. And parity-time (PT) symmetric potential provides a good platform for the study of Kármán vortex street. In this paper, different patterns of vortex shedding formed behind PT symmetric potential in Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) are&amp;#xD;simulated numerically. Kármán vortex street and others are discovered to emerge in the wake of a moving obstacle with appropriate parameters. Compared with BEC without PT symmetric potential, the frequency and amplitude of the drag force are more complex. The parametric regions of the combined modes are scattered around the Kármán vortex street. Numerical simulations indicate that the imaginary part of the PT symmetric potential affects the vortex structure patterns. Finally, we proposed an experimental protocol that may observe Kármán vortex street.