Separation of turbulent, incompressible flow from a curved, backward-facing step

Abstract

An experimental investigation of turbulent, incompressible flow separation over curved and sharp, backward-facing steps is presented with results for various step heights. Mean velocities in the separating boundary layer as well as the downstream shear layer were recorded. The static pressure in the separated region was determined with a spherical probe. With the curved step, the boundary layer separated at approximately 28 degrees: the reattachment lengths were somewhat less and the base pressures slightly higher than those with the sharp step.