Flow separation and reattachment happens in many fluid mechanical situations occurring in engineering applications as well as in nature. The flow over a backward-facing step represents a geometrically simple flow situation exhibiting both flow separation and reattachment. Broadly speaking there are only two important parameters in the problem, the Reynolds number(Re) based on the step height(h),and a geometrical parameter, referred to as the Expansion ratio(ER), defined as the downstream channel height to the upstream channel height. In spite of the relative simplicity of this geometry, the flow downstream is quite complex. The main focus of the present work is to elucidate the unsteady three-dimensional coherent structures present in this flow at large Re, Re>36,000,based on the step height(h). For this, we use velocity field measurements from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)in conjunction with hotwire anemometry measurements. The time-averaged structure of this flow is first studied in detail, including the effect of Reynolds number(Re) and Expansion Ratio(ER), on it. These studies show that at sufficiently large Re (Re>20,000), the reattachment length becomes independent of Re. The detailed internal structure of the separation bubble is also found to be independent of Re, but for Revalues that are relatively larger(Re>36,000). At large Re, the main effect of ER ,is found to be on the reattachment length, which increases with ER and saturates for ER values greater than about 1.8. The detailed internal structure of the separation bubble has been mapped at high Re and is found to be nearly the same for all ER, when the streamwise length is normalized by the reattachment length. In order to elucidate the unsteady coherent vortical structures, PIV measurements are done in two orthogonal planes downstream of the backward-facing step. These measurements are done for ER= 1.50 at large Re(Re=36,000) and in a large aspect ratio facility(AR= span length/step height= 24); the latter being important to avoid any effects due to span-wise confinement. In the spanwise plane parallel to the lower wall(x-z plane),instantaneous velocity fields show counter rotating vortex pairs, which is a signature of the three-dimensional vortical structures in this plane. Using conditional averaging, this counter-rotating vortex pair signature is captured right from upstream of the step, to well after reattachment. Spatial correlations are used to get the length scale of these coherent vortical structures, which varies substantially from the attached boundary layer before separation to the region after reattachment. The variation of these structures in the cross-stream (vertical) direction at reattachment and beyond gives an idea about their three dimensional shape. The circulation of these counter-rotating pairs is measured from the conditionally aver-aged fields, and is found to increase with streamwise distance reaching normalized circulation values (Γ/Uoh) of about 0.5 around reattachment. Velocity spectra downstream of the step show peaks corresponding to both the shear layer frequency(Stsl)and a relatively lower frequency that corresponds to large-scale shedding from the separation bubble (Stb); the latter in particular being quasi-periodic. Small amplitude sinusoidal forcing at the shedding frequency(Stb) is applied close to the step, by blowing and suction, to make the quasi-periodic shedding more regular. Measurements show that this has a very small effect on both the mean separation bubble and on the counter-rotating structures in the x-z plane. This mild forcing however enables phase locked PIV measurements to be made which shows the bubble shedding phenomenon in the cross-stream plane(side view or x-y plane). The phase-averaged velocity fields show significant variations from phase to phase. Although there is some hint of structures being shed, from these phase-averaged fields, it is not very clear. One of the primary reasons is the fact that the flow is effectively spanwise averaged, as the three-dimensional structures are not locked in the spanwise direction. To get a three dimensional view of the sheddin gphenomenon, it is necessary to lock the spanwise location with respect to the three-dimensional vortical structures before averaging across the different phases. We use the condition, u’<- urms, to locate the central plane between the counter-rotating structures, which in effect are the “legs” of the three-dimensional structure. With this condition, we effectively get a slice of the shedding cycle cutting through the “head” of the three-dimensional structure. Apart from this cut, we also get a cut between adjacent structures from the weak sweep events, with the condition u’<- urms. Using these conditions, on the phase-locked velocity fields, we effectively lock the structures in time, as well as in the spanwise direction. With this ,a clearer picture of the shedding process emerges. The flow is highly three-dimensional near reattachment and the shedding of the separation bubble is modulated in the spanwise direction owing to the three-dimensional hairpin like vortical structures in the flow. The separation bubble is seen bulged out and lifted high at locations where the head of the hairpin vortex passes, owing to the strong ejection of fluid caused by the vortical structure. On the other hand, outside the hairpin vortices, weak sweep events push the flow towards the wall and make it shallow and less prominent, with the shedding being very weak in this plane. From these observations, a three-dimensional picture of the flow is proposed.

La capacité à percevoir des courants dans un fluide s'est développée chez de nombreuses espèces animales, dans des contextes écologiques très variés qui couvrent aussi bien les interactions proies-prédateurs, la sélection sexuelle ou l'orientation dans un environnement. Parmi ces espèces animales, les grillons détectent les courants d'air générés notamment lors de l'attaque de leurs prédateurs à l'aide de deux organes appelés "cerques", situés à l'arrière de leur abdomen et recouverts de poils mécano-sensoriels. Ces senseurs sont considérés comme les détecteurs les plus sensibles du monde animal. Il leur suffit de capter l'énergie d'un dixième d'un photon pour déclencher un potentiel d'action au niveau du neurone sensoriel. Ce manuscrit présente à la fois le développement des outils de mesures sans contact adaptés à ces questions d'écologie sensorielle ainsi que les méthodes numériques simulant les processus physiques à l'oeuvre. L'étude du fonctionnement des senseurs a nécessité l'adaptation des méthodes de mesures non intrusives de très grande précision tel que la Vélocimétrie par Imagerie de Particules (PIV). La couche limite oscillante dans laquelle évoluent les poils a été visualisée et a servi à déterminer la réponse de poils modélisés par des systèmes oscillatoires du second ordre. Le couplage visqueux entre poils a été lui aussi caractérisé en adaptant la PIV à des mesures à très petites échelles sur des poils biomimétiques micro-electro-mécanique (MEMS). Les mesures des perturbations générées lors des attaques d'araignées, principales prédatrices des grillons, nous ont aidé à valider des modélisations numériques, réalisées à l'aide des techniques de dynamique des fluides computationnelles (CFD) par résolution des équations de Navier Stokes via la méthode des éléments finis (FEM). La mise au point et l'utilisation de techniques de métrologie optique en dynamique des fluides semi-visqueux et l'analyse des données nous permettent de revisiter la sensibilité extrême du système sensoriel du grillon et de placer ces mesures dans un contexte plus large, d'écologie sensorielle. En particulier, nous montrons que ces soies sont placées en groupe compact et exercent entre elles un fort couplage aérodynamique visqueux, qui réduit fortement leur sensibilité "de groupe". Ce fort couplage interroge l'intérêt d'avoir des récepteurs aussi performants individuellement, s'ils perdent leur sensibilité lorsqu'ils fonctionnent en réseau. Finalement, les réactions des poils à des mouvements de fluides générés par un piston mimant les attaques réelles d'araignées ont pu être déterminées à l'aide d'une caméra rapide, puis simulées et validées après avoir développé un modèle mécanique du poil répondant à des stimuli transitoires. / Flow sensing is used by a vast number of animals in various ecological contexts, from preypredator interactions to mate selection, and orientation to flow itself. Among these animals, crickets use hundreds of filiform hairs on two cerci as an early warning system to detect remote potential predators. Over the years, the cricket hairs have been described as the most sensitive sensor in the animal kingdom. The energy necessary for the emission of an action potential by its sensory neuron was estimated to be a tenth of the energy of a photon. This PhD thesis aims to describe recent technological advances in the measurement and model of flows around biological and artificial flow sensors in the context of organismal sensory ecology. The study and understanding of the performance of sensory systems requires a high spatial precision of non-intrusive measurement methods. Thus, non-contacting measurement methods such as and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), originally developed by aerodynamics and fluid mechanics engineers, have been used to measure flows of biological relevance. The viscous oscillatory boundary layer surrounding filiform hairs has been visualized and used as input to model the mechanical response of these hairs, described as second order mechanical systems. The viscous hydrodynamic coupling occurring within hair canopy was also characterized using PIV measurements on biomimetic micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) hairs, mimicking biological ones. Using PIV, we have also measured the air flow upstream of hunting spiders. We prove that this flow is highly conspicuous aerodynamically, due to substantial air displacement detectable up to several centimeters in front of the running predator. This disturbance of upstream air flows were also assessed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the finite elements method (FEM). The development of non-intrusive measurement and CFD methods and their application to the analysis of the biological flow involved in cricket sensory ecology allowed us to revisit the extreme sensitivity of cricket filiform hairs. We predicted strong hydrodynamic coupling within natural hair canopies and we addressed why hairs are packed together at such high densities, particularly given the exquisite sensitivity of a single hair. We also proposed a new model of hair deflection during the arrival of a predator, by taking into account both the initial and long-term aspects of the flow pattern produced by a lunging predator. We conclude that the length heterogeneity of the hair canopy mirrors the flow complexity of an entire attack, from launch to grasp.