Optical-flow algorithm for near-wake analysis of axisymmetric blunt-based body at low-speed conditions

In this study, ability of an optical-flow algorithm in extracting wake structure of axisymmetric model was investigated. The initial data for optical-flow processing were obtained in low-speed conditions by particle image velocimetry method. The Reynolds number based on the model diameter was around ReD ¼ 1.97 ∗ 104 in this study. Both the time-averaged and transient flow characteristics of near-wake flow were illustrated and examined by the optical-flow analysis method proposed. The processing results of optical-flow method showed good agreement with conventional cross-correlation methods. The ability of optical-flow method to extract flow fields was, thereby, confirmed for blunt-based flow at low-speed conditions. This study showed that the antisymmetric flow behavior of the near wake is the dominant type at low-speed conditions. Differing to traditional methods and cross-correlation results, the optical-flow results showed a frequency at around StD ¼ 0.015 of the near wake for the first time, which is connected to vortex shedding behavior of the wake flow. Copyright © 2020 by ASME.