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Updated: May 18, 2026

Investigating the Three-dimensional Flow Separation Induced by a Model Vocal Fold Polyp
Published on: February 3, 2014
Reflectional symmetry breaking of the separated flow over three-dimensional bluff bodies
Mathieu Grandemange1, Olivier Cadot, Marc Gohlke
1ENSTA-UME, Unité de Recherche en Mécanique, Chemin de la Hunière, 91761 Palaiseau Cedex, France.
Abstract:
Experimental observation of a permanent reflectional symmetry breaking (RSB) is reported for a laminar three-dimensional wake. Based on flow visualizations, a first bifurcation from the trivial steady symmetric state to a steady RSB state is characterized at Re=340. The RSB state becomes unsteady after a second bifurcation at Re=410. It is found that this RSB regime is persistent at large Reynolds numbers and is responsible for a bistable turbulent wake.
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