The turbulent near-wake of a crossbar is investigated numerically with the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The crossbar is made up of two perpendicular square bars arranged in a biplane configuration and is included in the computational domain. The Reynolds number based on a bar diameter is about 1600. The numerical results are first tested against results of both particle image velocimetry (PIV) and laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). The LBM data compare well with the PIV and LDV data. In particular, the LBM reproduces the generation of vortical structures at the crossbar as observed in the PIV data. The numerical results reveal the presence of intermittent lateral motions along the span of the two bars, yielding fingerlike structures. It is argued that these motions contribute to the formation of streamwise vortical structures just behind the crossbar. These streamwise structures interlace with lateral structures also generated at the crossbar. The region over which this activity takes place is about four diameters. Within this region, the turbulent kinetic energy at the crossbar centerline increases and reaches a maximum at a distance of about three diameters. As the downstream distance increases, the individual wakes merge to form a single wake with features, for $x/D\ge 20$, similar to those observed in grid-generated turbulence.

• Received 1 November 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.77.036310