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Flow past a row of flat plates at large Reynolds numbers. (English) Zbl 0816.76048
The steady, incompressible, high Reynolds number, viscous flow past a row of flat plates is computed by Galerkin finite element discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations in the streamfunction-vorticity formulation. A novel implementation of the inflow and outflow boundary conditions is described, which combines numerical stability with computational economy in the solution procedure. The calculations reported cover the range of moderate and small blockage ratios, i.e. $$5 \leq a \leq 25$$ (where a is the inverse blockage ratio). A transition from narrow wake eddies to wide wake eddies is found for values of a above $$a_{\text{crit}} \approx 15$$. This transition is, in general, in agreement with the trends reported earlier by B. Fornberg [J. Fluid. Mech. 225, 655-671 (1991; Zbl 0722.76023)] for the related problem of flow past a row of circular cylinders (where $$a_{\text{crit}}$$ was approximately 8).
Reviewer: S.Mika (Plzeň)

##### MSC:
 76M10 Finite element methods applied to problems in fluid mechanics 76D05 Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluids
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