Wake Surveys Behind a Passenger Car Subjected to a Transient Cross-Wind Gust 2000-01-0874

Transient wake surveys have been conducted on a generic three dimensional vehicle shape. The flow conditions were those generated by the unique crosswind facility at Durham University, which imitates a vehicle passing through a sharp-edged, finite length cross-wind gust. Each survey consisted of some 7000 cross-wind gusts, with each point in the wake being phase-averaged over 20 gusts. The surveys clearly show the development of the wake structure from the familiar axial flow conditions, through the transient to a nominally steady yawed flow. Although both the structure and total pressure loss that develop in the wake flow are comparable to those found for quasi-steady flow conditions, the developing flow reveals characteristics that are not found in the quasi-steady measurements. New data are also presented with regard to the character of the gust that develops in this wind tunnel and their impact upon the reported wake measurements is discussed.