Wall effects on the flow structure around a rectangular cylinder

The mean flow structure around an elongated rectangular cylinder near a solid wall was quantitatively characterized. The flow fields were experimentally measured by means of a 2D PIV technique. The flow pattern was extracted for each experimental condition and the effect of the solid wall was investigated by varying the distance of the cylinder from the wall. We used a detection algorithm able to extract a series of significant points on 2D velocity fields. The cataloguing of these points made it possible to trace, in the measurement plane, a series of characteristic lines depicting the architectural state of flow. Finally, the parametric description of the morphological state of flow allowed quantification of the effects of the boundary (wall proximity) conditions on the flow structure. The parameterization of the flow structure enabled the identification of significant kinematic parameters, which were compared with the force coeffi- cients on the obstacle.