A contribution to an inviscid vortex-shedding model for an inclined flat plate in uniform flow

Abstract

Unsteady separated flow behind an inclined flat plate is numerically studied through the use of the discrete-vortex approximation, in which the shear layers emanating from the edges of the plate are represented by an array of discrete vortices introduced into the flow field at appropriate time intervals at some fixed points near the edges of the plate. The strengths of the nascent vortices are chosen so as to satisfy the Kutta condition at the edges of the plate. Numerical calculations are performed for a plate at 60° incidence impulsively started from rest in an otherwise stationary incompressible fluid, by systematically changing the distance between the location of the nascent vortices and the edges of the plate. The temporal changes in the drag force, the rate of vorticity transport at both edges of the plate and the velocity of the separated shear layers are given together with the flow patterns behind the plate on the basis of this model. The results of the computation show that the vortex street behind the plate inclines as a whole towards the direction of the time-averaged lift force exerted on the plate. It is also predicted from the calculations that the vortex shedding at one edge of the plate will not occur at the mid-interval of the successive vortex shedding at the other edge. The predicted flow patterns are not inconsistent with a few experimental observations based on the flow-visualization technique.