Low-frequency oscillations in flow past an inclined prolate spheroid

•We carry out DNS study of flow around an inclined prolate spheroid at Reynolds number 8000. In this highly asymmetric flow, we observe dramatic low-frequent oscillations that affect the body force components in all three directions. This phenomenon has not been reported before in the spheroid flow.•In-depth investigations and discussions are presented on this new observation, based on which we identify the low frequency originates from the three-dimensional vortex instability.•The revealed mechanism in the present study could help us to understand even higher Reynolds number flows around inclined spheroid.