A detailed flow field behind a stationary square cylinder with attached rigid and flexible splitter plates has been studied using particle image velocimetry, constant temperature anemometry, and flow visualization techniques. A wide range of lengths of the splitter plate (L/B = 0–8) are considered, and their respective wake interference is reported. The investigation is carried out at an intermediate flow regime at three Reynolds numbers 600, 1000, and 2000 (based on blocking width “B” of the cylinder). The literature seriously lacks the information on a passive flow control of bluff body wakes in this flow regime. This study shows that the wake frequency and mean drag coefficient vary nonmonotonically to splitter plate lengths. The length of the splitter plate is a critical parameter, which, apart from flow control, can also bring a significant wake transition. At L/B > 3 to L/B = 4, strong secondary vortices are shed from the trailing edge. The shedding of the secondary vortex leads to a sudden shrinkage in the recirculation bubble and an increase in the periodicity of the unsteady flow. The onset of high amplitude flapping occurs in a flexible splitter plate (L/B = 3) at Re = 2000. The vortex shedding frequency becomes higher than the first mode natural frequency of the flexible splitter plate for this length and remains in the same regime for L/B > 3. The amplitude of flapping increases up to L/B = 5 and then again recedes. The high amplitude flapping of the flexible splitter plate adversely affects the mean drag coefficient of the bluff body.
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss key aspects of the longevity of business enterprises across the world. It explores the parameters that set apart a company which had survived for more than 1,400 years from most large companies which survive for a fraction of this time.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper integrates observations from two important research papers on the topic, and from the author’s own research.
Findings
Contrary to expectations, long-surviving firms are usually conservative about change, exploit their opportunities rather than explore more, diversify in relevant areas, and co-operate even with their competitors to live long.
Research limitations/implications
To those companies that live long, age becomes a valuable resource in itself. Consumers see a continuous track record of a firm as a proxy for good quality, and long history can provide managers institutional memory to leverage toward further sustainability. “Long history” not only can provide anecdotes and stories to employees that exemplify the tacit core values of the firm but also, quite counter-intuitively, could be useful in transforming cultures and traditions.
Practical implications
Longevity challenge encompasses both continuity and change, but the experience filtered from many long-lived firms across the globe provides companies with insights that could inspire many more to live long and prosper.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.