Detached eddy simulation of flow around rectangular bodies with different aspect ratios

As wind flows around a sharp-edged body, the resulting separated flow becomes complicated, with multiple separations and reattachments as well as vortex recirculation. This widespread and unpredictable phenomenon has long been studied academically as well as in engineering applications. In this study, the flow characteristics around rectangular prisms with five different aspect ratios were determined through wind tunnel experiments and a detached eddy simulation, that placed the objects in a simulated deep turbulent boundary layer at $Re=4.6{\times}10^4$. A series of rectangular prisms with the same height (h = 80 mm), different longitudinal lengths (l = 0.5h, h, and 2h), or different transverse widths (w = 0.5h, h, and 2h) were employed to observe the effects of the aspect ratio. Furthermore, five wind directions ($0^{\circ}$, $10^{\circ}$, $20^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, and $45^{\circ}$) were selected to observe the effects of the wind direction. The simulated results of the surface pressure were compared to the wind tunnel experiment results and the existing results of previous papers. The vortex and spectrum were also analyzed to determine the detailed flow structure around the body. The paper also highlights the pressure distribution around the rectangular prisms with respect to the different aspect ratios. With an increasing transverse width, the surface suction pressure on the top and side surfaces becomes stronger. In addition, depending on the wind direction, the pressure coefficient experiences a large variation and can even change from a negative to a positive value on the side surface of the cube model.