The flow field behind surface mounted detached square ribs under the approaching flat plate turbulent boundary layer has been experimentally studied using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) (two-component and stereo) technique in both streamwise and cross stream measurement planes. An oil film visualization study has been carried out for correlating the surface flow patterns to the flow structures. The Reynolds number based on the rib height is equal to 11,075. The ratio of the gap height to the square rib size is set equal to 0.2, 0.37, 0.57, and 1.0. The ratio of approaching boundary layer thickness to rib height is equal to 0.2. The mean and rms velocity fields, streamwise and spanwise vorticity fields, velocity gradient and velocity vector fields, turbulent kinetic energy budgets, and stream trace results are reported. The second invariant of the velocity gradient tensor results are presented to distinguish between the rotational and shear contribution of the vorticity field. The recirculation bubbles with a focilike structure are observed behind the detached ribs. These structures are displaced upward, i.e., away from the wall surface with an increase in gap size of the detached cylinder. The size of the recirculation bubble also drops with an increase in the gap size. The stream traces in the cross stream plane show node-saddle patterns, whose near wall concentration is high for a lower gap size detached cylinder. The oil film visualization images show saddle patterns at the meeting point between the flow through the gap and the reattaching shear layer for the lower gap size detached cylinder. The $v$-velocity magnitude distribution shows greater wall-normal motion across the wake for the detached cylinder of lower gap size. There is a significant near wall velocity fluctuation for the lower gap size detached cylinder. The higher velocity fluctuation due to the near wall flow structures contributes toward an increase in the near wall mixing of a detached cylinder geometry. Overall, the present study clearly demonstrates the flow structures behind detached ribs, which are responsible for effective near wall mixing. The results from this study provide useful understanding for the design of turbulators in various practical applications.

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