Oblique and parallel wave interaction in the near wake of a circular cylinder.

Detailed velocity measurements have been made to investigate the structure of the low-frequency vortex dislocations that appear in the indigenous wake of a circular cylinder. It is shown that one mechanism for the production of vortex dislocations is the superposition of two waves with slightly different frequencies, where the higher frequency wave is parallel to the cylinder axis and the lower frequency is an oblique wave. In contrast to the discrete vortex concept that implies discontinuous shedding frequencies, the measured amplitude and phase distribution of the interacting waves are shown to be continuous along the span of the cylinder. Both waves (parent modes) exist simultaneously and overlap in the wake. The difference mode associated with the vortex dislocations is produced by the nonlinear interaction of the parent modes, and its maximum amplitude is at the location where the parent modes have comparable magnitude. The spanwise phase and amplitude distributions of the difference mode are ‘‘predicted’’ by taking the product of the complex wave amplitudes of the parent modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]