Open Channel Turbulent Flow past Rectangular Cylinders at Incidence

Abstract

This paper reports a study of the turbulent wake of two-dimensional rectangular cylinders in an open channel. Three cylinders with different aspect ratios were mounted vertically at the midspan of an open channel and oriented through four angles of incidence. A particle image velocimetry technique was used to conduct detailed velocity measurements at various streamwise-spanwise planes around the cylinders. The results show that the head loss coefficients increase with aspect ratio and angle of incidence. Self-similarity in the mean velocities was achieved with the proper choice of velocity and length scales, irrespective of the angle of incidence and cylinder aspect ratio.