705

Thermophysics and Aeromechanics, 2013, Vol. 20, No. 6

Experimental investigation of the effect
of small-obstacle-induced vortex sheet
on the separated flow in cavity
*

A.Yu. Dyachenko, V.I. Terekhov, and N.I. Yarygina

Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
E-mail: yarygina@itp.nsc.ru
(Received May 24, 2013)
In the present paper, we report results of an experimental study of the influence which a vortex-generating
element installed upstream of the main obstacle has on the separated flow and heat transfer in a cross-flow cavity-
trench. The element was a small cross-flow rib whose height was an order of magnitude smaller than the depth
of the cavity. In the experiments, the variable parameters were the angle of inclination of the frontal and rear walls
of the cavity, the rib height, and the rib-to-cavity distance. It is shown that the introduction of additional vortical
perturbations into the recirculation zone leads to a substantial modification of both the vortex production process and
the distributions of pressure and heat-transfer coefficients. Optimal height of the mini-turbulizer and its optimal
location are defined by the fall of the re-attachment point of mini-rib-generated flow onto the rear wall of cavity.
In the latter situation, the maximal value of the heat-transfer coefficient increases as compared to the case with no
vortex generator used, the increase amounting to 30 %.
Key words: cross-flow cavity, separated turbulent flow, thermographic visualization, heat transfer, pressure
coefficients, instability.
Introduction
Control of the heat- and mass-transfer processes in separated flows is an important trend
in improving the performance and reliability characteristics of heat-and-power apparatuses
[14]. To date, this matter has been addressed in scientific literature rather scantily in comparison
with the traditional methods to control the dynamics of separated flows [5]. From the practical
point of view, most acceptable here are passive control means for the transfer of heat in separation
regions behind such obstacles as steps and cavities based on using, upstream of the separation
region, an outside turbulence [68] or additional turbulizing elements much smaller in size than
the primary obstacle [912].
In [7, 8], it was found that an external turbulence reduces the scale of vortical structures
and the extension of separation region, and it also makes less pronounced the effect of butt
walls on the recirculation zone yet intensifies the transfer of heat in the separation region.
For instance, in a system of several ribs, an extremely unstable vortex production process was

*
This work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 12-08-00249) and by
the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation (State Contract No. 14.518.11.7015).
A.Yu. Dyachenko, V.I. Terekhov, and N.I. Yarygina, 2013
A.Yu. Dyachenko, V.I. Terekhov, and N.I. Yarygina
706
observed in the second cell due to the occurrence of a counter-flow moving in the direction
opposite to that of the main stream from the third to second cell. Under the action of external
turbulence, the flow in the second cell becomes more stable. Due to different flow prehistories,
the effect of external turbulence on the characteristics of separated flows behind various obstacles
is manifested in different ways. The tendency towards size reduction of the separation bubble
behind an obstacle under high turbulence is due to a substantial growth of the mixing layer.
A growth of mixing layer behind the rib is more pronounced in comparison with that behind
the step, so that the extension of separation region in the former case turns out to be reduced
by 30 %, the same reduction in the latter case being 20 % only. Accordingly, the intensification
of the transfer of heat behind the rib is more pronounced in comparison with the step. Low-
height obstacles also proved to be more advantageous when used as heat-transfer intensifiers.
A most enhanced transfer of heat due to external turbulence was observed in a cross-flow cavity
and in a system of ribs.
On the other hand, using mini-turbulizers installed in the upstream region of an obstacle
is a simpler method to control the dynamic and thermal characteristics of separated flows.
In the latter case, control of thermal characteristics of a separated flow is exercised via intro-
duction, into the separation region, of an additional vortex sheet causing a dramatic modification
of recirculation-zone structure, displacement of reattachment point and, hence, the redistribu-
tion of pressure-, heat-, and mass-transfer coefficients. Interest in using vortex-sheet generators
permanently increases. J. Neumann and H. Wengle have published a report on their numerical
simulations of passively controlled turbulent separated flow past a backward-facing step per-
formed using DNS and LES methods [9, 10]. Profiles of flow velocity and velocity fluctua-
tions, and also the spectral density of those quantities, in a plane channel with a low-height rib
installed upstream of a step at a given rib-to-step distance were calculated. The authors have
demonstrated a considerable growth of mixing-layer thickness, reduction of recirculation zone,
and instability of the flow as a whole. In [11], based on their experimental data, for given
channel dimensions J. Miau et al. have proposed optimal sizes of a vortex generator formed by
two ribs, one rib being a thin stationary rib and the other, an oscillating rib. According to
the recommendations by J. Miau et al., the height of the intensifier should be one third of step
height H, and the intensifier itself should be installed at an upstream distance of 4H.
K. Isomoto and S. Honami examined the effect of an additional turbulence produced by a small
turbulizer in the form of a rod or a cross-flow cavity on the flow re-attachment process behind
a step [12]. They showed that at the point of flow separation in the profiles of turbulence inten-
sity there arise small characteristic peaks pointing to the presence of the turbulizer. For the rod,
a reduction in the extension of reattachment region was noted, and for the trench, its growth.
For heat-transfer intensification purposes, of interest is the search for optimal dimensions
of vortex-generating elements and for their optimal location with respect to the obstacle. Because
of its complexity and involvement of many factors, the influence of vortex sheet on the transfer
of heat in separated flow remains a poorly studied matter. Here, scarcity of experimental data
is evident. Since all reported studies were performed for the backward-facing rib, it would be
of interest to also address the influence of a mini-generator on the separated flow behind
a different obstacle, e.g., a cavity. For cross-flow trenches, an interesting region affecting
the transfer of heat is also the rear edge since the most pronounced heat-transfer intensification
is observed on the rear wall of cavity.
In the present paper, we report on the results of an experimental study of vortex produc-
tion and fields of pressure and temperature in a cross-flow cavity (trench) with varied angle
of inclination of the frontal and rear walls in the presence, upstream of the separation region,
of a low-height intensifier in the form of a cross-flow rib. Other variable parameters were the rib
height and location. The purpose of the study was to gain data on the coefficients of pressure
and heat-and-mass transfer under interference of two separated flows of different scales.
Thermophysics and Aeromechanics, 2013, Vol. 20, No.6
707
Experimental setup
The experiments were carried out in the wind-tunnel facility of the Institute of Thermo-
physics, SB RAS [5]. The cross-sectional dimensions of the working channel of the wind
tunnel were 200200 mm, and the length of the channel was 1000 mm. On the bottom
of the channel, a model with a cavity clamped in between two aerodynamic panels was installed.
In the upstream region of the cavity, the length of the aerodynamic panels was 480 mm,
and the length of the planar surface behind the cavity was 200 mm. We examined the flow
past a cavity whose dimensions were as follows (Fig. 1): depth = 60 mm, bottom width
(between the points and ) L = 60 mm, length in the cross-flow direction W = 180 mm, so
that we had the case of W/H = 3 and H/L = 1. The walls of the cavity were tight against
the channel walls. All in all, three models were fabricated; one model was intended for ther-
mographic visualization of the flow, and the two other models, for measuring, respectively,
the pressure fields and the thermal characteristics. For measuring the rate of heat transfer with
the help of thermocouples, the cavity walls were prepared from a 20-mm thick cloth laminate
sheet. The experiments were carried out for the following values of the angle of inclination of
the sidewalls of cavity: = 30, 45, 60, 70, 80, and 90. In variation of sidewall incli-
nation angle, the height of cavity H and the width of cavity bottom in the direction of the flow
L remained unchanged while the separation between the points and D increased in value
with decreasing the angle . In the latter situation, depending on the inclination angle,
the length of cavity sidewalls L
w
was a varied quantity.
Measurements were carried out in the range of free-stream velocities U
0
= 5 35 or
in the range of Reynolds numbers Re
H
= HU
0
/ = 210
4

1.410
5
. The majority of experiments
with mini-turbulizers were performed at U
0
= 20 m/s (Re
H
= 810
4
). At all velocities U
0
,
the boundary layer in the upstream region of cavity was a turbulent boundary layer. The boun-
dary-layer momentum thickness prior to separation
0 0 0
0
** 1
U U
dy
U U

was calculated
from experimental velocity profiles, and it varied, depending on the Reynolds number,
in the interval 3.2 to 3.7 mm, which values corresponded to a boundary-layer thickness value
35 mm. The turbulence number of the free channel flow as measured by a DISA-55M hot-
wire anemomenter was 1.2 %. In examining the distribution of static pressure in the cavity,
the model was provided with 80 static-pressure orifices located on the frontal and rear sidewalls
and on the bottom of the cavity in six sections, two orifices on each wall.
A ribbon heater wound from aluminum foil of thickness 36 m with strip width 5 mm
was used to heat the sidewall and the bottom of the cavity in the regime of constant heat flux.
The trench surface was provided with 158 chromel-copel thermocouples located in three longi-
tudinal sections on the bottom, in five longitudinal cross sections on the sidewalls and in four
sections across the flow (one section on each sidewall, and the two others in two sections on
the bottom of cavity). The leak of heat across the plate was evaluated using data measured by
four thermocouples calked into the back side of each heated wall.
In thermographic experiments, the cavity with the heater was mounted on the sidewall
of the wind tunnel flush with the channel
wall. The opposite wall was prepared
from optical glass; in some cases, it was
replaced with polyethylene film.
The cavity was heated during one hour

Fig. 1. Diagram of the flow past a cross-flow
cavity with a vortex generator in the form of
a cross-flow rib installed upstream of the cavity.

A.Yu. Dyachenko, V.I. Terekhov, and N.I. Yarygina
708
in a required velocity regime, and then the wall temperature was measured with a THERMO
TRACER TH7102 IR Imager (Japan) whose spectral range was 8 to 14 m. Digitization
of measured temperature fields was performed using thermocouple data obtained with the help of
at least two thermocouples. Thermograms were plotted using special software.
The vortex generator was a thin cross-flow rib of height h
g
ranging from 2.5 to 10 mm,
which was installed in the upstream region of the cavity at a distance 0 to 100 mm from its
leading edge (point in Fig. 1).
Results of experiments
Thermographic visualization of the flow
Thermographic visualization was performed in cavity for various heights of the small
rib and different rib-to-leading edge distances. The height h
g
was either 2.5, 5, or 7.5 mm, and
the distance S
g
was varied from 0 to 100 mm. he thermograms well reflect the soot-oil visua-
lization data obtained for the flow over the cavity bottom [8]. The visualization has showed
that the most dramatic modification of the flow and thermal patterns on increasing
the height of the intensifier installed at the leading edge of rectangular cavity was observed
in the region of secondary flow immediately behind the channel expansion (Fig. 2, the flow
moves from left to right). Behind the frontal wall, in addition to corner vortices moving
towards the butt walls, there arises a large vortex at the center of the region. The latter leads
to flow instability and to a transition from the primary vortex structure involving one cell
to a structure comprising two cells. In the absence of a vortex generator, such instability
emerges in cavities with sidewall inclination angles < 70 [8]. For h
g

= 7.5 mm, the centers
of the two cells become most heated regions, the latter pointing to a decrease of the rate
of the transfer of heat in the cavity. This finding can be related to the fact that, here, the reat-
tachment point of rib-generated flow, x
r

~ 15 (h
g

= 112.5 mm), falls in the downstream region
of cavity.
On increasing the rib-to-cavity distance (the rib is located in the upstream region
of the cavity), the flow in cavity becomes a more and more low-scale one (see Fig. 3). A similar
regularity is also observed on decreasing the angle . For 70 in the secondary zone, three
vortices, two corner ones, and one at the center are observed; those vortices proved to be even
more manifested in comparison with the case of = 90. A decrease in the temperature
of the secondary vortex indirectly points to an enhanced transfer of heat.
Pressure coefficients
In the rectangular cross-flow cavity in the central section along the stream and in three
reference sections across the flow, the distributions of pressure in the presence of the vortex
intensifier were measured. Also, pressures at a distance of 50 mm ahead of, and at a distance
of 70 mm behind the cavity were measured. The distributions of pressure coefficients along the
stream as dependent on the height of a generator installed at the leading edge of cavity are
shown in Fig. 4. The distributions of pressure in the transverse sections were nearly iden-
tical. The graph in Fig. 4 shows that, the higher is the obstacle, the more pronounced are
the decrease of the pressure coefficient in cavity and the increase of this coefficient in the imme-
diate proximity ahead of and behind the cavity. Yet, the rate of change slows down, and
the distributions of pressure coefficients for h
g
= 7.5 and 10 mm turn out to be differing little.
On the other hand, the distributions of pressure show an ambiguous behavior as depen-
dence on the rib-to-cavity distance S
g
(see Fig. 5). As the distance S
g
increases from 0 to
10 mm, the rarefaction in the cavity becomes more pronounced. A maximal reduction of the
pressure coefficient was observed at S
g
= 10 mm, i.e., at S
g
= 2 h
g
. On further increase of S
g
,
the pressure coefficient in the cavity again starts increasing to reach a level typical of the case
with no mini-obstacle installed.
Thermophysics and Aeromechanics, 2013, Vol. 20, No.6
709
Thus, the pressure coefficient in cavity remains rather low till the re-attachment point of
mini-rib-generated flow enters the cavity.
Heat-transfer coefficients
The relative values of the cavity-surface-mean heat-transfer coefficient normalized by
the mean Nusselt number in the rectangular cavity without a mini-turbulizer for three angles are


Fig. 2. Thermogram of the bottom of a rectangular cavity with a mini-turbulizer of variable height
installed at the leading edge.
h
g
= 0 mm (a), 2.5 mm (b), and 7.5 mm (c); S
g
= 0 mm (ac).

Fig. 3. Thermogram for a rectangular cavity behind a rib of height 5 mm installed at different
distances to the cavity.
h
g
= 5 mm; S
g
= 0 mm (a), 5 mm (b), and 10 mm (c).
A.Yu. Dyachenko, V.I. Terekhov, and N.I. Yarygina
710

shown in Fig. 6. The dependence of the relative Nusselt number on the height of a mini-rib
installed at the leading edge of cavity is shown in Fig. 6, and the dependence on rib location
(for the rib of height 5 mm), in Fig. 6b. Most pronounced heat-transfer intensification is ob-
served for cavities with inclined walls; in the latter case, the heat-transfer intensification turns
out to be almost independent of rib height because the re-attachment point of rib-generated
flow for all examined rib heights falls into the cavity. For the rectangular cavity, the effect is
much less pronounced, and at h
g
= 7.5 mm, when the re-attachment point of rib-generated flow


Fig. 5. Distribution of pressure coefficients in a rectangular cavity with a mini-turbulizer of height 5 mm
installed at different rib-to-cavity distances.
h
g
= 0 mm (1); h
g
= 5 mm: S
g
= 0 mm (2), 10 mm (3), 25 mm (4), 50 mm (5), and 100 mm (6).

Fig. 4. Distribution of pressure coefficients along a rectangular cross-flow cavity with a mini-turbulizer installed
at the leading edge.
U = 30 m/s; h
g
= 0 mm (1), 2.5 mm (2), 5 mm (3), 7.5 mm (4), and 10 mm (5).
Thermophysics and Aeromechanics, 2013, Vol. 20, No.6
711
falls into the downstream region of cavity, such heat-transfer intensification is not observed
at all. Nonetheless, the intensification of heat transfer in the rectangular cavity reaches 30 %
at generator height 5 mm for a generator installed at the generator-to-trench distance 10 mm.
Conclusions
The complexity of processes proceeding during the interaction of two separated turbulent
flows with two characteristic scales has been demonstrated. The performed study has revealed
a pronounced effect of an enhanced-turbulence vortex sheet produced by a low-height obstacle
that was installed in the upstream region of a cross-flow cavity on the formation of vortices and
on the heat transfer in the separation region due to cavity.
The thermographic visualization data have demonstrated that, when the flow re-
attachment point due to the low-height turbulizer (of height much smaller than the cavity
depth) falls into the rectangular trench, an unstable flow arises in the cavity and the primary
eddy disintegrates into two cells. In the absence of the mini-turbulizer, such a phenomenon
arises only for angles of inclination of the frontal and rear wall of cavity < 90.
The modification of the flow has an impact on the behavior of pressure coefficients. With
the example of a rectangular cavity we show that with increasing the height of the mini-
obstacle installed on the leading edge of the trench, the pressure coefficient in the regions up-
stream of rib and downstream of cavity increases in value while it decreases in the detachment
zone, so that the rarefaction level in cavity shows an increase. Simultaneously, the rate of the
growth diminishes when the re-attachment point due to the small turbulizer falls into the cavi-
ty. On increasing the mini-rib-to-cavity distance the pressure coefficient in trench remains ra-
ther low unless the re-attachment point leaves the cavity and, over the downstream region of
the rib of ten or more calibers in terms of rib height, the pressure coefficient in cavity again
increases to a level observed in the absence of the small turbulizer.
Behind the vortex generator, the magnitude of the heat-transfer coefficient increases
in comparison with the case of the absence of the vortex generator providing that the re-
attachment point due to the small obstacle falls into the cavity. Yet, because of the finite width
of cavity, the intensification in cavity is less pronounced in comparison with the case of
the downward-facing step. Both the location and height of mini-obstacle have an impact on
the characteristics of the transfer of heat. In a rectangular cavity, at rib height h
g
= 7.5 mm a small
rib installed on the leading edge leads to a decrease of the heat-transfer coefficient. That is
the case in which the re-attachment point due to mini-rib enters the region behind the cavity.
The most pronounced increase of the mean heat-transfer coefficient (1.3 times) is observed when
the vortex intensifier is located at a distance of two calibers in term of its height; this increase


Fig. 6. Relative Nusselt number in cavities with different angles and with a mini-turbulizer
installed at the leading edge versus turbulizer height () and turbulizer-to-cavity distance (b).
< 45 (1), 70 (2), 90 (3).
A.Yu. Dyachenko, V.I. Terekhov, and N.I. Yarygina
712
is somewhat lower in a trapezoidal cavity. Such an effect due to mini-turbulizer is quite com-
parable with the effect due to external turbulence, and it can be interpreted as the effect due to
a low-scale turbulence induced by small intensifiers.
The experimental data suggest that the optimal height of small ribs falls in the interval
from 1/5 to 1/3 of cavity depth. On the other hand, the location is defined by the condition that
the re-attachment point of mini-rib-generated flow should fall into the recirculation region
of cavity.
Nomenclature
C
p
pressure coefficient,
Cp = 2(p
i
-p
0
)/U
2
,
H depth of cavity, mm;
h
g
height of vortex generator, mm,
L width of cavity at cavity bottom, mm,
L
w
length of cavity sidewall, mm,
Nu Nusselt number, Nu = H/,
p pressure, N/m
2
,
Re Reynolds number, Re
H
= UH/,
S
g
vortex generator-to-cavity distance, mm,
U flow velocity, m/s,
W cavity length (close to channel width), mm,
x
R
position of flow re-attachment point,
heat-transfer coefficient, W/m
2

K,
thermal conductivity coefficient, W/mK,
kinematic viscosity, m
2
/s,
density, kg/m
3
,
angle of inclination of cavity sidewalls, .
Subscripts
0 main-flow parameter,
w wall parameter.
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