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Karman vortex street formula

Description

In fluid dynamics, a Kármán vortex street is a repeating pattern of swirling vortices caused by the unsteady separation of flow of a fluid around blunt bodies and is responsible for such phenomena as the “singing” of suspended telephone or power lines, and the vibration of a car antenna at certain speeds. A vortex street will only form at a certain range of flow velocities, specified by a range of Reynolds numbers , typically above a limiting Re value of about 90. In low turbulence, tall buildings can produce a Kármán street so long as the structure is uniform along its height. Kármán vortex street formula for tall cylinders for the range 250 < Re < 200000 is used in engineering.

Related formulas

Variables

fvortex shedding frequency. (1/s)
ddiameter of the cylinder (m)
Vflow velocity (m/s)
ReReynolds number (dimensionless)