Flow visualization and analysis of wake behind a sinusoidal cylinder

The near wake behind a sinusoidal cylinder has been investigated quantitatively using hot-wire anemometer and qualitative. The mean velocity and turbulence intensity were measured in streamwise and spanwise direction. The results show that the wake in the saddle plane has a longer vortex formation region and rapid reversed flow than that in nodal plane. The elongated vortex formation region of sinusoidal cylinder is related with drag reduction. In addition, the flow visualized with particle tracing method support the flow characteristics of sinusoidal cylinder measured by hot-wire.