Influence of a rectangular baffle on the downstream flow structure

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the impact of a rectangular baffle inside a square channel. PIV was used to measure the two-dimensional velocity fields. The measurements were conducted for two Reynolds numbers in the fully turbulent regime. The changes to the flow structure due to the insertion of a baffle were quantified by a direct comparison with the flow structure in the absence of a baffle, under similar conditions. Results show that the turbulent velocities are enhanced by a factor of two to three and the rates of energy production and dissipation are enhanced by more than an order of magnitude when a baffle is inserted in the channel. Significant enhancement of turbulence was observed in a region up to two times the baffle height immediately downstream of the baffle and the thickness of this layer increased to three times the baffle height further downstream of the baffle.