Experiments in the turbulent near wake of an axisymmetric body

The boundary layer and wake of the bluff axisymmetric body were measured to complement previous studies of axisymmetric wakes insofar as they provide detailed information on the streamwise development of the wake from a separated boundary layer at the tail to its self-similar state. The characteristics of the thick stern boundary layer were found to be similar to those in measurements of the corresponding streamlined bodies. Truncation of the tail, resulting in a bluff body, did not significantly alter the boundary layer development up to that point.