JOURNAL OF

windengineering
Journal of Wind Engineering 8®~l~i(~
ELSEVIER and Industrial Aerodynamics 69 71 (1997) 155 167

A method for the reduction of bluff body drag

A. P r a s a d , C . H . K . W i | l i a m s o n *
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Upson Hall Cornell Uni~,ersity, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Abstract

Although several techniques for the reduction of bluff body drag have been proposed in the
literature by previous investigators, most of these investigations did not estimate the drag of the
entire system consisting of bluff body and drag-reducing device. In the present study, we have
devised a method of not only reducing the drag of the bluff body, but reducing the drag of the
entire system to values well below that of the bluff body alone. Our method, which utilizes
a small flat plate placed upstream of and parallel to the cylinder (with the plate oriented normal
to the free stream), has yielded an optimal geometrical configuration consisting of a plate height
one-third the cylinder diameter placed 1.5 diameters upstream of the cylinder, and produces
a system drag that is 38% that of the bare cylinder alone. The reduction in drag is manifested
through two distinct modes of the flow - a cavity mode observed for small values of the
plate-cylinder gap, and a wake-impingement mode observed for larger values of this gap. The
cavity mode is found to deliver a larger reduction in drag due to a substantial increase in thrust
associated with the front surface of the cylinder.

1. Introduction

Bluff bodies are c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a large region of s e p a r a t e d flow, a direct conse-

quence of which is t h a t they suffer from large values of the d r a g coefficient. In m a n y
engineering a p p l i c a t i o n s a n d for a variety of reasons, it is desirable to d i m i n i s h this
large value of d r a g coefficient, Co. F o r the p a r t i c u l a r case of the circular cylinder, it is
k n o w n t h a t CD --~ 1.2 over a vast range of R e y n o l d s n u m b e r e x t e n d i n g from 1 x 103 to
100 × 103, which e n c o m p a s s e s m a n y typical engineering situations. In the present
study, we have i n v e s t i g a t e d a m e t h o d of reducing the d r a g of a bluff b o d y by the
i n t r o d u c t i o n of a small u p s t r e a m - p l a c e d flat plate. A l t h o u g h it is well k n o w n that such
a c o n f i g u r a t i o n has the effect o f ' s h i e l d i n g ' a n d r e d u c i n g the d r a g on the d o w n s t r e a m
body, we have f o u n d that even r e m a r k a b l y small u p s t r e a m b o d i e s can significantly

* Corresponding author. E-mail: cw26@cornell.edu.

0167-6105/97/$17.00 ~(~ 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII S01 67-61 0 5 ( 9 7 ) 0 0 1 5 1-7
156 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson/J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 69 71 (1997) 155 167

reduce the drag of the entire system (comprising of the bluff body and drag-reducing
device) to values well below that of the bluff body alone!
One method of drag reduction utilizes an obstacle placed upstream or downstream,
in order to alter the flow field around the bluff body (see reviews by Zdravkovich
[1,2]). Although some work has been concerned with the flow past two unequal
cylinders in tandem [3 5], no attempt was made to determine optimal configurations
to minimize system drag. More recently, Sakamoto and Hanui [6] have investigated
the effect of a small 'control' cylinder at various azimuthal locations near the main
cylinder. For a geometry typical of their configuration, with the control cylinder
diameter being 6% that of the main cylinder, they found a 50% drag reduction on the
main cylinder. However, the drag of the system (consisting of both bodies in the flow
field) was not estimated in any of these previous investigations. It is to this point, and
others, that we will direct our attention in this study.
Of direct relevance to the present investigation, Koenig and Roshko [7] studied the
effect of various disks placed coaxially upstream of an axisymmetric flat-faced cylin-
der. By a suitable choice of parameters they were able to achieve remarkable reduc-
tions (of the order of about 99%) in drag that is attributable to the front of the system.
At these optimum conditions, they found that the flow separating from the disk
attached smoothly to the sides of the cylinder in what they termed a ~free-streamline'
flow. Furthermore, they were able to show that measured values of drag coefficient
agreed well with results obtained from a model using free-streamline theory. Never-
theless, the following important observation is to be made regarding their study: their
experiments which were performed on an 'infinite' flat-faced cylinder, caused it to be
devoid of that component of drag associated with the rear surface of the body, which
usually forms a substantial fraction of the total drag. Inspired by the significant results
of Koenig and Roshko [7] for an axisymmetric configuration, we then naturally asked
if large drag reductions of a circular cylinder in cross flow, can be effected in a fairly
subtle manner, and this is the main focus of our study.
We begin with experimental details in Section 2, wherein we also demonstrate
how the drag of the system was calculated. We then present measurements of
drag of the cylinder and system in Section 3, which permits us to determine the
optimum geometrical configuration that delivers minimum system drag. In Section 4
we address the mechanism by which the reduction in drag is effected and show the
existence of two modes of the flow. Following this we present some concluding
remarks.

2. Experimental details

The pressure measurements were carried out in an open-circuit suction wind tunnel.
The turbulence level was close to 0.5% in the 10" × 15" test section. The cylinder which
was constructed from a hollow brass tube of external diameter 2.18" was mounted
with its axis horizontal and not fitted with endplates. This configuration yielded
a cylinder aspect ratio of 4.6 and blockage ratio of about 14%. Thirty-four holes of
diameter 0.018" were drilled symmetrically at various azimuthal positions around the
 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson/~ Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 69 71 (1997) 155 167 157

cylinder and served as pressure ports. Ports at corresponding + 0 and - 0 were

connected to a single tube in order to produce an average pressure distribution (0
represents the azimuthal position from the front stagnation point on the cylinder). The
holes which were nominally in the same vertical plane at the midspan of the cylinder,
were actually staggered slightly in order to minimize flow interference between
succesive ports. These were connected to an electronic pressure m a n o m e t e r through
a 'Scanivalve', both of which were connected to a computerized data-acquisition
system. In all of the pressure measurements, the Reynolds number based on the
cylinder diameter (D) was approximately 50 × 103.
Plates (of width P), mounted upstream of the cylinder, were translated to different
positions through the use of a rack-and-pinion system. A stainless-steel hypodermic
tube (of diameter 0.027") which was carefully affixed to the rear surface of each plate,
in its midplane, permitted the measurement of the plate base pressure coefficient in
situ. Plates of normalized plate-width P/D = 3%, 9%, 17%, 69% and 100% were
placed at plate~cylinder gap widths of up to six diameters. The plate-cylinder gap
width (g) is defined as the distance between the front stagnation point of the cylinder
and the rear surface of the plate. All the plates used were 0.125" thick in the streamwise
direction.
Flow visualization was conducted using a vertical smoke-wire system, in a blowing
wind tunnel with a turbulence level of less than 0.2% in the 12" z 12" test section.
A G e n R a d 1540 Strobolume provided the intense illumination required to capture
photographic images on ISO 400/2T ~ film with a Nikon F3 camera. The Reynolds
number based on the 1" diameter cylinder used in the flow visualizations, is set at
3500. It can be recalled from Section 1 that the drag coefficient of a cylinder is
relatively insensitive to the Reynolds number over a range 1000 < Re < 100 000. This
suggests that the gross features of the flow retain their similarity over a wide range of
Reynolds number. Consequently, we expect our flow visualizations to be in good
correspondence with our pressure measurements.
The drag of the system, which has hitherto not been measured in previous studies, is
estimated in the following manner. If we consider unit length of plate and cylinder, the
system drag (Dsys) which is composed of the drag of the cylinder plus the drag of the
plate, can be written as

D~,s
~ = C D , (1~ p U ~2 D ) + CD~(~pU~P),
1 2 (1)

where CD, and CD,. are the drag coefficients of the cylinder and plate respectively. The
value of C~), is computed by integrating the azimuthal pressure distribution of the
cylinder. The quantity CD, is calculated from the base 'suction' coefficient (negative of
base pressure coefficient) of the plate, denoted/3, using the expression

cD,, = o.88(1 - O.1l/3) + / 3 , (2)

which is provided by Roshko [-8], and is consistent with other plate wake experiments
such as those of Fage and Johansen [9] and Arie and Rouse [-10]. Using Eq. (1), an
expression for q = Dsys/D b. . . . where Obare is the drag of the bare cylinder, can be found
158 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson,,'J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodvn. 69 71 (1997) 155 167

of the form

CD( CD,.~P~
'1 - C o , + ~ \ D / ] ' (3)

where CD~,ois the m e a n drag coefficient of a bare cylinder. The value of CD,,~,r~--~ 1.201
for the present study; measured mean drag coefficients were not corrected for
blockage.

3. The reduction in drag

In the present investigation, we demonstrate that it is indeed possible to drastically

reduce the drag of a cylinder by placing a small fiat plate upstream of and parallel to
the body, as illustrated schematically in Figs. 1 and 2. It seems remarkable that even
with a tiny plate (P/D = 3%) we could easily effect a 20% drag reduction of the
cylinder by a suitable adjustment of the plate cylinder gap width, as shown in Fig. la.

1.0 I I ' I I ~ '

(1.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
P / D = 3%

0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6
(a) g/D

I: D

(b) g -I
Fig. 1. The variation of cylinder drag coelficient Cl), normalized by the drag cofficient of a bare cylinder
(Cm,,) with plate cylinder gaps (.q/D) is shown in (a), for the plate height P/D = 3%. In (b) is displayed the
geometrical configuration which produces m i n i m u m drag on the cylinder with the use of this plate.
 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson/~ Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn, 69-71 (1997) 155-167 159

1.0 I I I I I I

0.8

.g 0.6

0.4

0.2
P / D ---- 9%
0.0 ~ I J [ ~ I ~ I
1 2 3 4 5 6
(a) g/D

(b)
-¢- !

I_
~ - g
@ ID
v I

Fig. 2. The variation of normalized system drag, q = Dsy~/Dbarc, with plate~zylinder gaps (g/D) is shown in
(a), for the plate height P/D = 9%. In (b) is displayed the geometrical configuration which produces
minimum system drag with the use of this plate.

This is particularly surprising if one observes the actual geometrical configuration

that produces minimum cylinder drag which is drawn to scale in Fig. lb. An example
of our calculation of the drag of the entire system (consisting of the cylinder and plate)
for P/D = 9%, shown in Fig. 2a, demonstrates drag reductions of the order of 40% by
a suitable choice of g/D. The geometrical configuration which produces minimum
system drag for this plate width, is drawn to scale in Fig. 2b. Clearly, one can
accomplish substantial drag reductions through the use of seemingly tiny plates
placed upstream.
We now present a simple argument which suggests why an optimum plate width
should exist. Recalling that q = Dsys/Ob.... we note that without the use of an
upstream plate, ~/= 1; however, the presence of a small plate is seen to decrease the
system drag (t/< 1), as may be apparent from Fig. 2a. This implies that near P/D ~- O,
~7decreases with plate width. On the other hand, it is clear that for rather large plate
widths, for example larger than the cylinder diameter itself, the system drag must be
larger than that of the cylinder alone, so that for P/D ~> 1, r/ increases with plate
160 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson,'J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 69 71 (1997) 155 167

1.2 I r I I I ' I

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2 (a)
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
P/D

,
o

OPTIMUM CONFIGURATION:

P/D = 0.34 ; g/D 1.5

Cylinder drag reduction 100%

System drag reduction - 62% (b)

Fig. 3. The variation of the normalized system drag with normalized plate width (P/D) is shown in (a). AI
each plate width, the minimum value of I1, determincd from a variation of g/D, is presented. The optimal
geometrical configuration which occurs at P/D - 34% is drawn to scale in (b}.

width. This means that there necessarily exists a minimum in the quantity ~l, which
occurs for some intermediate plate width. In Fig. 3a, we show our measurements of
the variation of D~ys//Dbarewith normalized plate width. Each value of the ordinate in
this plot corresponds to the minimum value of ~l determined for each plate over
a variation of g/D. We find that there is indeed a minimum which occurs at
I/min : 0.38 for the case of an optimal plate width, P/D = 34%. In Fig. 3b is displayed
this optimal geometrical configuration for which the plate width is about one-third
the cylinder diameter and which produces an astounding 62% system drag reduction
compared to the drag of a bare cylinder. Under these conditions the drag of the
cylinder alone is found to be virtually zero, as shown later in Fig. 6b.
 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson/J( Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 69 71 (1997) 155-167 161

4. The mechanism of drag reduction

To understand flow features which generate the variation of system drag, extensive
flow visualization and pressure measurements were performed, which are included in
further detail in Ref. [11].
Flow visualization suggests the existence of two distinct modes of the flow as the
gap width is increased. In Fig. 4a, it is seen that the shear layers separating from the
plate reattach on the shoulders of the cylinder, thereby creating a low-pressure 'cavity'

Fig. 4. Flow visualization of the two different modes which produce the reduction in drag, for P/D = 34%.
In (a), we show an example of the cavity mode for #/D = 1.5. In (b), is shown visualization of
the wake-impingement mode for ~t/D - 5.0. The wake of a bare cylinder is displayed for comparison
in (c).
162 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson/J. Wind Eng. Incl. Aeroclvn. 69 71 (1997) 155 167

between the plate and cylinder. Consequently, we label this the cavity mode. As
a matter of fact, flow features in this example correspond precisely to the optimal case
in Fig. 3b, which produces the minimum possible system drag. The large drag
reduction is generated because the entire front surface of the cylinder is subjected to
a low pressure which is found to be remarkably uniform throughout the cavity region,
as we describe presently. With increasing gap width, the separating shear layers from
the plate roll up into discrete vortices, and this vortex wake then impinges on the
cylinder as shown in Fig. 4b. In this wake-impingement mode, the vortex wake that is
largely responsible for the reduction in drag is, however, not as effective in doing so as
is the low-pressure region in the cavity mode. The scale of the wake of a bare cylinder,
displayed in Fig. 4c, can be compared to those in the cavity and in the wake-
impingement modes.
Pressure measurements illustrate why larger drag reductions are accomplished for
the cavity mode than for the wake-impingement mode. The geometrical configura-
tions which produce the pressure distributions shown in Fig. 5 correspond precisely
to those in the visualizations presented in Fig. 4. It is seen in the specific case shown in
Fig. 5a, that for the cavity mode, the pressure coefficient on the front surface of the
cylinder has an almost constant negative value very nearly equal to that on the rear of
the body. As can be expected, the cylinder drag drops to virtually zero in this case. For
the wake-impingement mode however, the pressure distribution in Fig. 5b, begins to
display the familiar shape of that on a bare cylinder. For both modes, some reduction
in drag is effected by a diminution of the cylinder base suction; however, for the cavity
mode, the significantly larger suction (or 'thrust') on the front surface of the cylinder is
responsible for the substantial reduction in drag force. In Fig. 6a, we show the
variation with normalized gap width, of the mean pressure coefficient at 0 = 0 ° on the
cylinder (Cp,), and the mean base pressure coefficient of the plate (Cp~). It appears that
for small gaps (g/D < 1.6), these quantities are very nearly equal which, when coupled
with the observation (from Fig. 5a) that the pressure distribution on the cylinder
frontal surface is virtually constant, illustrates the statement made earlier that the
cavity between the plate and cylinder is at a constant low pressure. As the gap width is
increased (~j/D > 1.6), the coefficients begin to deviate from each other, clearly indicat-
ing the disappearance of the cavity mode. Some quantitative comparisons can be
made with the work of Hiwada et al. [3], wherein they considered the case of two
unequal cylinders arranged in tandem. In their work. they provide the variation
of what they term 'the j u m p clearance' to the ratio of cylinder diameters; 'the
j u m p clearance' refers to the gap between the cylinders at which the flow displays
a discontinuous transition from the equivalent of our cavity mode to the equaivalent
of our wake-impingement mode. For the diameter ratio which corresponds to our
normalized plate height P/D = 3 4 % , we find that their relation yields a
J u m p clearance' of 1.52D which appears to be in good correspondence with
our observation of a critical gap width of 1.6D, beyond which the cavity mode
cannot be naturally sustained. Koeing and Roshko [7] also found, in their axisym-
metric configuration, the existence of an intermittent swapping between their high-
drag regime and low-drag regime at certain values of the gap width; in addition,
they observed that the discontinuity between these two regimes was hysteretic, an
 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson/~L Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 69 71 (1997) 155-167 163

1 ' ' 1 ' ' 1 ' ' 1 ' ' 1 ' '

Cavity Mode
0.5

Cp 0

-0.5

-1

-1.5 , , 1 ~ , 1 , , I , , I , , I , ,
30 60 90 120 150 180
(a) 0

',,,& ' I ' ' I ' ' I ' ' I ' ' I ' '

0.5
\ \
Wake-Impingement

• g/D= 5.0
Mode

Cp 0

-0.5

-1

-1.5 , , I , , I , , I , , I , , I , ,

30 60 90 120 150 180

(b) 0
Fig. 5. The cylinder pressure distributions measured for the two modes with P/D - 34%. (a) For the cavity
mode, it is observed that the pressure on the cylinder frontal surface is an almost constant value, which is
equal to the that on the rear surface, for the particular case shown. The pressure distribution for the
wake-impingement mode, (bt displays similarities with that observed for a bare cylinder. The pressure
distribution measured on a bare cylinder is included for comparison in both plots.
164 +4. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson,"J. Wind Eng. bM. ,4ero(tvn. 69 71 (1997) 155 167

1 . 0 , , , , • , , , , . i , , , , , , ,

0.5 CpF
J ~ t ~ - - - ~ i ~ - - "

i ~'~

0.0 j4
J•
Cp

-0.5 Q~ ~,: q_

i Cpp

-I.0
Cavity Mode : Bistablc
regime Wake Impingement Mode
I , i , , , t , , , i L , I i , i
-150 ''1 2 3 4 5 6
g/D

0.5 , , , , ,

0.4 Bistable •
regime i /i/-il /
,
, r "

0.3 //"
Cavity Mode I Wakc hnpingcmcnt Mode
£3
o O.2

0.1 \ ~

00#- 2 3 4'5 ;' 7

g/D

Fig, 6. The variation with gap width of the mean pressure coefficient at 0 = 0 oil the cylinder, denoted C m
and the mean base pressure coefficient of the plate (Ce+,) is shown in ta}. For slnall gap widths, the two
coefficients are nearly equal, but they deviate fl-om cach other for larger gap widths. The normalized
cylinder drag coefficient, shown in (b}, decreases to nearly zero at olD = 1.5 at the upper end of the cavity
mode, after which it increases rapidly' as the wake-impingement mode manifests itself. The transition
between the two modes is characterized by a bistable regime which is indicated in both plots. The case of
P,D = 34% is displayed.

a s p e c t w h i c h w a s p o s s i b l y p r e s e n t in o u r c a s e as well, b u t w a s n o t i n v e s t i g a t e d a n y
further.
T i m e - a v e r a g e d q u a n t i t i e s s u c h as Cp,, s h o w n in Fig. 6a, a n d t h e n o r m a l i z e d
c y l i n d e r d r a g c o e f f i c i e n t , p r e s e n t e d in Fig. 6b, d e m o n s t r a t e a s m o o t h t r a n s i t i o n f r o m
t h e c a v i t y m o d e t o t h e w a k e - i m p i n g e m e n t m o d e . H o w e v e r , it is c l e a r f r o m t i m e t r a c e s
o f t h e i n s t a n t a n e o u s p r e s s u r e c o e f f i c i e n t at 0 = 0" ( s h o w n in Fig. 7) t h a t as t h e
p l a t e c y l i n d e r g a p is i n c r e a s e d , t h e flow s w a p s i n t e r m i t t e n t l y b e t w e e n t h e t w o m o d e s .
 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson/J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 69 71 (1997) 155 167 165

0.15 0,151 , , . , ,
g/D= 1.5 t g/D =2.0
0.05

-0.05
°°5t I'1 rl
-0.15
°15II t |
-0.25
¢ 025ii L
-0.35
°3 [J l t,
-0.45 -o.45~ ~ ~Nt'
0.55
111 ' 2~0 ' 30 ' 4'0 ' 5'0 ' 6'0 70 -o.5% 1;o'11o 1~o 1~1t 14o ' 150 ' 160
time (s) time (s)
0.15 0.15
g / D = 2.5
0.05 0.05

- 0 .05 - 0. 05

~. - 0 .15 0.15

-11.25 -0.25

0.35 - 0. 35

- 0 . 45 - 0. 45

0.55 -0.5'~
2'0 ' 3'0 ' 4~0 ' 5~0 6'0 70 90 100 I10 120 130 1411 150

time (s~ time (s)

0.15

0.05

0.05

41.15

-1/.25

-1/.35

- 0 . 45
g / D = 3.5
- 0 . 55
10 20 ' 3~0 4~0 ' 5'0 ' 6'0 ' 70
time (s)
Fig. 7. Time traces of the instantaneous pressure coefficient at 0 = 0 o n the cylinder for P/D = 3 4 % . A s
the gap width is increased from 9/D = 1. 5 t o ,q/D = 3 . 5 , t h e f l o w a p p e a r s t o swap intermittently between the
cavity mode and the wake-impingement mode. The flow resides continuously in the cavity mode for
,q/D = 1.5 and continuously in the wake-impingement mode for 9/D - 3 . 5 .

In Fig. 7, the cavity mode (shown for the case 9/D = 1.51 is distinguished by its very low
value of the pressure coefficient, whereas the wake-impingement mode (shown for the
case 9/D = 3.5) is distinguished by a markedly larger value of this quantity. The region
of plate cylinder gaps over which this intermittent swapping between the modes
occurs, is labelled the bistable regime and indicated in Fig. 6. The duration of time for
which the flow resides in the wake-impingement mode, increases gradually with
166 A. Prasad, C.H.K. Williamson,'J. Wind Eng. Ind Aerodyn. 69 71 (1997) 155-167

increasing plate-cylinder gap as displayed in Fig. 7, thereby producing the observed

smooth variation of time-averaged quantities.
It should be pointed out here that the location at which the shear layers separating
from the plate reattach on cylinder clearly depends on the plate height and the gap
width. We have found that for smaller plate heights, a cavity region does indeed form
between the plate and cylinder, although it does not exert its influence over the entire
frontal surface of the cylinder. Nevertheless, the reduction in drag is manifested
through a cavity mode for small gap widths and a wake-impingement mode for large
gap widths.

5. Conclusions

We have shown that it is possible to reduce bluff body drag dramatically with the
use of small flat plates placed upstream. Not only can the drag of the bluff body be
diminished to a value close to zero but, surprisingly, the drag of the system (body plus
plate) is found to be a fraction of that of the bluff body alone. The optimum geometry
comprises a plate with a width one-third the cylinder diameter placed 1½ diameters
upstream of the cylinder. Such a geometry delivers zero drag on the cylinder and
a system drag an amazing 62% below that of the bare cylinder! Flow visualization
demonstrates the existence of two distinct modes, namely the cavity mode and the
wake-impingement mode; the former effects a larger drag reduction than the latter
since it is associated not only with a reduction in base suction, but also a very
substantial increase in thrust associated with the cylinder frontal surface. It appears
that the transition from the cavity mode to the wake-impingement mode is character-
ized by a bistable regime where the flow swaps between the two modes in an
intermittent fashion.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Edward Jordan for constructing the
experimental arrangement. Several stimulating discussions with T h o m a s Leweke are
deeply appreciated. This work has been supported by funding from the O.N.R. under
contract numbers N00014-94-1-1197 and N00014-95-0332.

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