Multi-resolution analysis of the large-scale coherent structure in a turbulent separation bubble affected by an unsteady wake

Multi-resolution analysis (MRA) was applied to the large-scale coherent structure in a turbulent separation bubble affected by an unsteady wake. The unsteady wake was generated using a spoked-wheel type wake generator, which was installed in front of the separation bubble. The wake generator was rotated either clockwise (CW) or counter-clockwise (CCW) with a normalized passing frequency of St(H) = 0.2. The Reynolds number based on the half-thickness of the blunt body was Re-H = 5600. To show the unsteady dynamic flow structures between the 'cutting' and 'wrapping' regimes, a MRA using the maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT) was performed. This method enabled delineation of the coherent structure of the turbulent separation bubble through a scale-resolved analysis. Reconstruction of the flow field in combination with conditional averaging was attempted. Flapping motions as well as sawtooth movements of the unsteady separation bubble were analyzed using the MODWT. The unsteady wakes decayed faster in the system with CCW rotation than in that with CW rotation. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.