Reynolds number effect on the bistable dynamic of a blunt-base bluff body

A three-dimensional blunt-base bluff body in a uniform flow is subjected to long-time stochastic dynamics of switching between two opposite wake states. This dynamic is investigated experimentally within the Reynolds number range Re $\simeq {10}^4–{10}^5$. Long-time statistics coupled to a sensitivity analysis to the body attitude (defined as the pitch angle of the body with respect to the incoming flow) show that the wake switching rate decreases as Re increases. Equipping the body with passive roughness elements (turbulators) modifies the boundary layers before separation, seen as the inlet condition for the wake dynamic. Depending on their location and Re, the viscous sublayer length scale and the turbulent layer thickness can be modified independently. This sensitivity analysis to the inlet condition shows that a decrease of the viscous sublayer length scale at a given turbulent layer thickness leads to a decrease in the switching rate, whereas the modification of the turbulent layer thickness has almost no effect on the switching rate.