BARC: A benchmark on the aerodynamics of a rectangular 5:1 cylinder

Recently a Benchmark problem has been started, in the field of bluff body aerodynamics (Bartoli et al 2008a). The aim of the Benchmark is to provide a contribution to the analysis of the turbulent, separated flow around a fixed rectangular cylinder with chord-to-depth ratio equal to 5. In spite of the simple geometry, it is believed that the problem is of interest not only for the purpose of fundamental research, but also to provide useful information on the aerodynamics of a wide range of bluff bodies of interest in Civil Engineering (e.g. long span bridges decks, high-rise buildings, and so on) and for other Engineering applications. Given the possible interest of Research Institutions and Industries operating in different fields of Engineering, using both computational and experimental tools, the benchmark addresses both the numerical and the experimental approach. The aims of the Benchmark are the following: (1) to deeply investigate one specific problem in the aerodynamics of bluff bodies, with contributions coming from as many researchers as possible worldwide; (2) to assess the consistency of wind tunnel measurements carried out in different facilities; (3) to assess the consistency of computational results obtained through different flow models and numerical approaches; (4) to compare experimental and computational results; (5) to assess the possibility of developing integrated procedures relying on both experimental and computational outcomes; (6) to develop Best Practices for experiments and computations. In addition, the results provided by the participants are meant to create a database to be made available to the Scientific and Technical communities for future reference.