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Transition from order to chaos in the wake of an airfoil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

K. Williams-Stuber  and
M. Gharib
K. Williams-Stuber
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA Present address: Department of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
M. Gharib
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
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Abstract

An experimental effort is presented here that examines the nonlinear interaction of multiple frequencies in the forced wake of an airfoil. Wakes with one or two distinct frequencies behave in an ordered manner – being either locked or quasi-periodic. When a third incommensurate frequency is added to the system, the flow demonstrates chaotic behaviour. Previously, the existence of the three-frequency route to chaos has been reported only for closed system flows. It is important to note that this chaotic state is obtained at a low Reynolds number. However, the chaotic flow shows localized characteristics similar to those of high Reynolds number turbulent flows. The degree of chaotic behaviour is verified by applying ideas from nonlinear dynamics (such as Lyapunov exponents and Poincaré sections) to the experimental data, thus relating the basic physics of the system to the concepts of mode interaction and chaos. Significant changes to the vortex configuration in the wake and to the r.m.s. velocity profile occur during the transition from order to chaos.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 213 , April 1990 , pp. 29 - 57
Copyright
© 1990 Cambridge University Press

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