Affiliations: Division of Materials Science and Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Nishi 8, Kita 13, Kita-Ku,
Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan. E-mail: y-ueda@eng.hokudai.ac.jp | Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of
Engineering, Setsunan University, 17-8, Ikedanaka-Machi, Neyagawa, Osaka
572-8508, Japan | Professor Emeritus, Division of Mechanical
Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1,
Gakuen-Cho, Naka-Ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan
Abstract: Flow past a square prism with cut-corners at the front-edge is
numerically and experimentally visualized to investigate a mechanism of drag
reduction. An adaptive numerical scheme based on the vortex method is
implemented for two values of the Reynolds number between 200 and 1,250, and
the results are compared with experiments. Experimental visualization
techniques include the hydrogen-bubble technique at Re=4,000 and the oil-flow
technique at Re=10,000 for a global wake formation, and the aluminum-flake
technique for transient flow at the early stage of motion at Re=1,250. A
similar reattachment flow pattern is shown in a wide range of the Reynolds
number between 200 and 10,000, which implies a possibility of the drag
reduction in the Reynolds number being approximately lower than 8,000 unlike
the previous findings.
