Distributed forcing of the flow past a blunt-based axisymmetric bluff body

In this paper, we address the influence of a blowing-/suction-type distributed forcing on the flow past a blunt-based axisymmetric bluff body by means of direct numerical simulations. The forcing is applied via consecutive blowing and suction slots azimuthally distributed along the trailing edge of the bluff body. We examine the impact of the forcing wavelength, amplitude and waveform on the drag experienced by the bluff body and on the occurrence of the reflectional symmetry preserving and reflectional symmetry breaking wake modes, for Reynolds numbers 800 and 1,000. We show that forcing the flow at wavelengths inherent to the unforced flow drastically damps drag oscillations associated with the vortex shedding and vorticity bursts, up to their complete suppression. The overall parameter analysis suggests that this damping results from the surplus of streamwise vorticity provided by the forcing that tends to stabilize the ternary vorticity lobes observed at the aft part of the bluff body. In addition, conversely to a blowing-type or suction-type forcing, the blowing-/suction-type forcing involves strong nonlinear interactions between locally decelerated and accelerated regions, severely affecting both the mean drag and the frequencies representative of the vortex shedding and vorticity bursts.