Statistical axisymmetry of the turbulent sphere wake

The turbulent sphere wake is studied experimentally at Re = 1.9 10(4) using an axisymmetric support that holds the body from upstream. This setup allows the axisymmetry of the mean wake and preserves the global mode activity at St = 0.19. The analysis of the PIV snapshots in a cross-flow plane indicates that this axisymmetry is due to an equal exploration of all the azimuths by the instantaneous wake. Using conditional averaging techniques, we extract the flow topology associated with one azimuthal direction; the obtained wake shows strong similarities with the unsteady planar symmetric flow reported in the laminar regime. In addition, the use of perturbations of the axisymmetry leads to modifications of the azimuthal statistics: The periodicity of the perturbation is recovered in the wake since one or several preferred orientations are identified. Hence, such statistics pave the way to multistable behaviors in three-dimensional wakes.