The effect, of high intensity large-scale free-stream turbulence on the flow past a rigid circular cylinder has been studied experimentally a t subcritical Reynolds numbers. Grids were used to produce homogeneous turbulence fields with longitudinal scales ranging from 0·36 to 4·40 cylinder diameters and with longitudinal intensities greater than 10%. Power and cross-spectra of the turbulence components (the ‘system input’) have been measured in order to carefully define the turbulence characteristics.

In the response experiments, a special model measured arbitrary two-point pressure correlations. Subsequent integrations yielded the specbral properties of the unsteady lift and drag. Measurements of mean drag and Strouhal frequency indicate that to some extent even severe large-scale turbulence can be considered to be qualitatively equivalent to an increase in the effective Reynolds number. Vortex shedding is not seriously disrupted by severe turbulence, but is affected more by low than by high frequencies. The unsteady lift response is still dominated by the vortex shedding, whereas the unsteady drag becomes primarily a response to turbulence. The cross-spectra of the drag forces for the one turbulence case examined overlay well when plotted against lateral separation divided by wavelength. This has enabled a ‘describing function’ for the drag response to turbulence to be derived. This describing function is the central element needed for the calculation of the structural response of such cylinders in the drag direction.