Martinuzzi, RobertChen, Zixiang2017-06-292017-06-2920172017http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3908The turbulent wake of a low-aspect-ratio right angle cone mounted on a flat surface, partially submerged in a steady turbulent boundary layer, is investigated using planar Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV) in a wind tunnel and Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The description of the dynamics of the large-scale quasi-periodic flow structures and their estimations using remote pressure sensors are considered in this study. The dominant vortex structures are first extracted from SPIV data using the traditional phase average method, which yields an average coherent velocity field that represents a typical shedding cycle. The formation and evolution of these large structures are visualized using volume rendering techniques and analyzed in the framework of vorticity dynamics. To go beyond the typical shedding cycle description, a technique to estimate the three-dimensional flow field from uncorrelated velocity measurements is presented. The method utilizes simultaneous pressure sensors mounted on the solid wall boundary in conjunction with the planar SPIV measurements. Compared to the typical shedding cycle representation, the technique can also characterize the low frequency modulation of the vortex shedding process. The capability of this technique to estimate the three-dimensional flow field is then assessed us- ing LES by applying the estimation techniques to planar LES velocity fields and comparing the results to the actual three-dimensional velocity field available from the simulation. The velocity estimation is found to be consistent with the actual three-dimensional velocity field. Additional coherent motions that are not captured in the experiment are also identified with the LES results, and strategies to capture these motions in SPIV measurements are developed based on the numerical data.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Fluid and PlasmaEngineering--AerospaceEngineering--EnvironmentalEngineering--MechanicalFluid dynamicsTurbulent wakeSensor-based estimationParticle Image Velocimetry (PIV)Large Eddy Simulation (LES)Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)Model order reductionReduced-order state observersdoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/26725