What is a 'Bluff Body' in Aerodynamics?

A Bluff Body (Sometimes known as a blunt body) in aerodynamics is an object, where a significant portion of the surface area is separated flow. A visualisation of a bluff body with separated flow is below, coloured by wind speed, blue being slow speed, red being high speed.

bluff_body_example

An example of a bluff body could be:

  • A building in the wind
  • A non-stationary freight lorry
  • Golf ball flying through the air

Important to note, spheres and cylinders are considered to be bluff bodies since they have a significant separation at higher Reynolds numbers.

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