A note on bluff body vortex formation

Abstract

Green & Gerrard (1993) have presented in a recent paper the results of experiments to measure the distribution of vorticity in the near wake of a circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers (up to Re = 220). They also compared the various definitions of the vortex formation region length which have been proposed by Gerrard (1966), Griffin (1974), and others for both high and low Reynolds numbers. The purpose of this note is to expand the work of Green & Gerrard, and to further their proposition that the end of the vortex formation region at all Reynolds numbers mark both the initial position of the fully shed vortex and the location at which its strength is a maximum. The agreement discussed here between several definitions for the formation region length will allow further understanding to be gained from investigations of the vortex wakes of stationary bluff bodies, and the wakes of oscillating bodies as well.