Direct numerical simulation of turbulent wake behind a surface-mounted square cylinder

In this research, direct numerical simulation has been performed to study the turbulent wake behind a wall-mounted square cylinder with aspect ratio 4 and Reynolds number 12 000 (based on the free-stream velocity and obstacle side length) in a developing boundary layer. Owing to the relatively high Reynolds number and high aspect ratio of the cylinder tested, the wake is wide spread behind the cylinder and exhibits complex and energetic vortex motions. The lateral and tip vortex shedding patterns at different frequencies, coherent structures downstream of the obstacle, the production rate and distribution of turbulent kinetic energy, and the instantaneous pressure distribution in the wake region have been thoroughly investigated. In order to validate the numerical results, the first- and second-order flow statistics obtained from the simulations have been carefully compared against available wind-tunnel measurement data.     

Flow above the free end of a surface-mounted finite-height circular cylinder: A review

The wake of a surface-mounted finite-height circular cylinder and the associated vortex patterns are strongly dependent on the cylinder aspect ratio and the thickness of the boundary layer on the ground plane relative to the dimensions of the cylinder. Above a critical aspect ratio, the mean wake is characterized by streamwise tip vortex structures and Kármán vortex shedding from the sides of the cylinder. Below a critical aspect ratio, a unique mean wake structure is observed. Recent experimental studies in the literature that used phase-averaged techniques, as well as recent numerical simulations, have led to an improved physical understanding of the near-wake vortex flow patterns. However, the flow above the free end of the finite circular cylinder, and its relationship to the near wake, has not been systematically studied. The effects of aspect ratio and boundary layer thickness on the free-end flow field are also not completely understood, nor has the influence of Reynolds number on the free-end flow field been fully explored. Common features associated with the free end include separation from the leading edge, a mean recirculation zone containing a prominent cross-stream arch (or mushroom) vortex, and reattachment onto the free-surface. Other flow features that remain to be clarified include a separation bubble near the leading edge, one or two cross-stream vortices within this separation bubble, the origins of the streamwise tip or trailing vortices, and various critical points in the near-surface flow topology. This paper reviews the current understanding of the flow above the free end of a surface-mounted finite-height circular cylinder, with a focus on models of the flow field, surface oil flow visualization studies, pressure and heat flux distributions on the free-end surface, measurements of the local velocity field, and numerical simulations, found in the literature.     

Effect of velocity ratio on the streamwise vortex structures in the wake of a stack

The time-averaged velocity and streamwise vorticity fields within the wake of a stack were investigated in a low-speed wind tunnel using a seven-hole pressure probe. The experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number, based on the stack external diameter, of Re_D=2.3×10⁴. The stack, of aspect ratio AR=9, was mounted normal to a ground plane and was partially immersed in a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer, where the ratio of the boundary layer thickness to the stack height was δ/H≈0.5. The jet-to-cross-flow velocity ratio was varied from R=0 to 3, which covered the downwash, crosswind-dominated and jet-dominated flow regimes. In the downwash and crosswind-dominated flow regimes, two pairs of counter-rotating streamwise vortex structures were identified within the stack wake. The tip vortex pair located close to the free end of the stack, and the base vortex pair located close to the ground plane within the flat-plate boundary layer, were similar to those found in the wake of a finite circular cylinder, and were associated with the upwash and downwash flow fields within the stack wake, respectively. In the jet-dominated flow regime, a third pair of streamwise vortex structures was observed, referred to as the jet-wake vortex pair, which occurred within the jet-wake region above the free end of the stack. The jet-wake vortex pair had the same orientation as the base vortex pair and was associated with the jet rise. The peak vorticity and strength of the streamwise vortex structures were functions of the jet-to-cross-flow velocity ratio. For the tip vortex structures, their peak vorticity and strength reduced as the jet-to-cross-flow velocity ratio increased.     

虚拟边界法研究正交双圆柱及串列双圆球绕流

把Goldstein等人提出的虚拟边界法推广到三维情况,研究了 Re=150时不同间距下正交双圆柱绕流,和Re=250时不同间距下串列双 圆球绕流流场. 对于正交双圆柱绕流,当间距比大于3,下游圆柱对上游圆柱尾流的影响只 限定在下游圆柱的尾流所扫过的范围之内;当间距比小于等于3,下游圆柱对上游圆柱尾流 的影响扩大,下游圆柱尾流扫过区上下出现两排三维流向二次涡结构. 对于串列圆球绕流, 研究发现,在小间距比(L/D≈ 1.5)的情况下,由于上下游圆球尾流区的相互抑 制消除了压力不稳定性,整个流场呈现稳 态轴对称特征;间距比为2.0时,周向压力梯度诱发出流体的周向输运,流场呈现稳态非对 称性,但流场中存在特定的对称面;间距比增大到2.5后,绕流场开始周期振荡,原有的对 称面依旧存在;在间距比3.5时下游圆球下表面的涡结构强度有所减弱,导致占优频率发生 交替;间距比增至7.0时,整个流场恢复稳态特征,两圆球尾部同时出现双线涡,这时流场 对称面的位置发生了变动.     

Global aerodynamic instability of twin cylinders in cross flow

This paper comprises an in-depth physical discussion of the flow-induced vibration of two circular cylinders in view of the time-mean lift force on stationary cylinders and interaction mechanisms. The gap-spacing ratio T/D is varied from 0.1 to 5 and the attack angle α from 0° to 180° where T is the gap width between the cylinders and D is the diameter of a cylinder. Mechanisms of interaction between two cylinders are discussed based on time-mean lift, fluctuating lift, flow structures and flow-induced responses. The whole regime is classified into seven interaction regimes, i.e., no interaction regime; boundary layer and cylinder interaction regime; shear-layer/wake and cylinder interaction regime; shear-layer and shear-layer interaction regime; vortex and cylinder interaction regime; vortex and shear-layer interaction regime; and vortex and vortex interaction regime. Though a single non-interfering circular cylinder does not correspond to a galloping following quasi-steady galloping theory, two circular cylinders experience violent galloping vibration due to shear-layer/wake and cylinder interaction as well as boundary layer and cylinder interaction. A larger magnitude of fluctuating lift communicates to a larger amplitude vortex excitation.     

On vortex shedding from low aspect ratio dual step cylinders

A dual-step cylinder is comprised of two cylinders of different diameters. A large diameter cylinder (D) with low aspect ratio (L/D) is attached to the mid-span of a small diameter cylinder (d). The present study investigates the effect of Reynolds number (Re_D) and L/D on dual step cylinder wake development for D/d=2, 0.2≤L/D≤3, and two Reynolds numbers, Re_D=1050 and 2100. Experiments have been performed in a water flume facility utilizing flow visualization, Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV), and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The results show that vortex shedding occurs from both the large and small diameter cylinders for 1≤L/D≤3 at Re_D=2100 and 2≤L/D≤3 at Re_D=1050. At these conditions, large cylinder vortices predominantly form vortex loops in the wake and small cylinder vortices form half-loop vortex connections. At lower aspect ratios, vortex shedding from the large cylinder ceases, with the dominant frequency in the large cylinder wake attributed to the passage of vortex filaments connecting small cylinder vortices. At these lower aspect ratios, the presence of the large cylinder induces periodic vortex dislocations. Increasing L/D increases the frequency of occurrence of vortex dislocations and decreases the dominant frequency in the large cylinder wake. The identified changes in wake topology are related to substantial variations in the location of boundary layer separation on the large cylinder, and, consequently, changes in the size of the vortex formation region. The results also show that the Reynolds number has a substantial effect on wake vortex shedding frequency, which is more profound than that expected for a uniform cylinder.     

Dynamics of vortical structures in cylinder/wall interaction with moderate gap ratio

The interaction between the wake of a transverse circular cylinder and the underlying flat-plate boundary layer with a moderate gap ratio G/D=1.0 is investigated using both hydrogen-bubble-based and PIV-based visualization techniques. The spanwise rollers in the cylinder wake are found to be capable of inducing secondary vortices in the near-wall region. The mutual induction from the counter-clockwise rollers, which are closer to the wall, plays a primary role, so that these secondary vortices present linear lift-up motion at first. Their subsequent evolution dominantly determines the characteristics of the wake/boundary-layer interaction. Two different vortex interaction scenarios are observed: the secondary vortices can be either entrained into the rollers or pushed down towards the wall. This leads to a rapid three-dimensional destabilization process, through which streamwise vortices are generated. And it is suggested that these streamwise vortices are the dominant structures to promote the following boundary layer transition.     

A bypass wake induced laminar/turbulent transition

The process of laminar to turbulent transition induced by a von Karman vortex street wake, was studied for the case of a flat plate boundary layer. The boundary layer developed under zero pressure gradient conditions. The vortex street was generated by a cylinder positioned in the free stream. An X-type hot-wire probe located in the boundary layer, measured the streamwise and normal to the wall velocity components. The measurements covered two areas; the region of transition onset and development and the region where the wake and the boundary layer merged producing a turbulent flow. The evolution of Reynolds stresses and rms-values of velocity fluctuations along the transition region are presented and discussed. From the profiles of the Reynolds stress and the mean velocity profile, a ‘negative' energy production region along the transition region, was identified. A quadrant splitting analysis was applied to the instantaneous Reynolds stress signals. The contributions of the elementary coherent structures to the total Reynolds stress were evaluated, for several x-positions of the near wall region. Distinct regions in the streamwise and normal to the wall directions were identified during the transition.     

Absolute and convective instabilities of two-dimensional bluff body wakes in ground effect

Local and global instabilities are investigated of wakes of general two-dimensional bluff bodies placed near and parallel to a plane boundary or ground. A spatio-temporal linear stability analysis is first applied to a four-parameter family of local wake profiles to investigate the fundamental local stability characteristics of the wake in ground effect. The analysis shows significant dependencies of the stability characteristics of the wake on the distance from the wake centreline to the ground (normalised by the wake width), and also on the velocity ratio of the near- and far-ground sides of the wake. The analysis is then compared with earlier experiments on a circular cylinder to examine, according to the transition scenario of the steep global modes, the streamwise variation of the local stability characteristics of the wake in ground effect. The comparison indicates that the near wake region of the cylinder changes from being absolutely unstable to being convectively unstable when the cylinder comes down into the near-ground range in which the von Kármán-type vortex shedding from the cylinder is suppressed, being qualitatively consistent with the transition scenario for general wake-type flows. A possible explanation is also given for the counter-intuitive relation between the thickness of the boundary layer on the ground and the critical gap distance for the cessation of the von Kármán-type vortex shedding in ground effect.     

Flow structure around two finite circular cylinders located in an atmospheric boundary layer: side-by-side arrangement

The flow structure around the free-end region of two adjacent finite circular cylinders embedded in an atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) was investigated experimentally. The experiments were carried out in a closed-return-type subsonic wind tunnel, in which two finite cylinders with an aspect ratio of 6 were mounted vertically on a flat plate in a side-by-side arrangement. The Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter was about Re=2×10⁴. Systems with gap ratios (i.e., center-to-center distance/cylinder diameter) in the range 1.0–2.0 were investigated. A hot-wire anemometer was employed to measure the wake velocity, and the mean pressure distribution on the cylinder surface was also measured. The flow past two finite cylinders was found to have a complicated three-dimensional wake structure in the region near the free ends. As the gap ratio increases, regular vortex-shedding becomes dominant, but the length of the vortex formation region decreases. The pressure distribution and flow structure around two cylinders were found to differ substantially from the behavior of a two-dimensional circular cylinder due to mutual interference. The three-dimensional flow structure seems to originate from the strong entrainment of irrotational fluids caused by the downwash counter-rotating vortices separated from the finite cylinder (FC) free ends.     

GROUND EFFECT OF FLOW AROUND AN ELLIPTIC CYLINDER IN A TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAYER

The flow characteristics around an elliptic cylinder with an axis ratio of AR=2 located near a flat plate were investigated experimentally. The elliptic cylinder was embedded in a turbulent boundary layer whose thickness is larger than the cylinder height. For comparison, the same experiment was carried out for a circular cylinder having the same vertical height. The Reynolds number based on the height of the cylinder cross-section was 14000. The pressure distributions on the cylinder surface and on the flat plate were measured for various gap distances between the cylinder and the plate. The wake velocity profiles behind the cylinder were measured using hot-wire anemometry. In the near-wake region, the vortices are shed regularly only when the gap ratio is greater than the critical value of G/B=0·4. The critical gap ratio is larger than that of a circular cylinder. The variation of surface pressure distributions on the elliptic cylinder with respect to the gap ratio is much smaller than that on the circular cylinder. This trend is more evident on the upper surface than the lower one. The surface pressures on the flat plate recover faster than those for the case of the circular cylinder at downstream locations. As the gap ratio increases, the drag coefficient of the cylinder itself increases, but the lift coefficient decreases. For all gap ratios tested in this study, the drag coefficient of the elliptic cylinder is about half that of the circular cylinder. The ground effect of the cylinder at small gap ratio constrains the flow passing through the gap, and restricts the vortex shedding from the cylinder, especially in the lower side of the cylinder wake. This constraint effect is more severe for the elliptic cylinder, compared to the circular cylinder. The wake region behind the elliptic cylinder is relatively small and the velocity profiles tend to approach rapidly to those of a flat plate boundary layer     

A review of flow-induced noise from finite wall-mounted cylinders

This paper reviews previous studies on the flow around and flow-induced noise produced by a finite wall-mounted cylinder (FWMC) of circular and square cross section. The flow around a square FWMC is somewhat understood. Conversely, the flow around a circular FWMC is not well understood, particularly because of the phenomenon of spanwise cellular shedding. The effect of the aspect ratio (the ratio of cylinder span to diameter) on the near wake structure has been most extensively studied in the literature. However, the effect of the height of the incoming boundary layer on the near wake structure has not been comprehensively investigated and is therefore unclear, despite it being identified as a major influencing parameter on the development of the wake. Similarly, only a few studies have been conducted on the flow-induced noise of FWMCs and there is a general lack of data on the flow-induced noise characteristics and mechanisms of an FWMCs in cross flow. Nevertheless, the amalgamation of the limited data set has led to several noise generation hypotheses: (1) lower frequency tonal noise generation is due to the development of separate structures along the span of both circular and square FWMCs and (2) that increasing the boundary layer thickness will promote tonal noise generation.     

The ‘void’ structure in the wake of a self-oscillating flexible circular cylinder

We discuss the experimental vortex wake of a flexible circular cylinder undergoing vortex-induced vibration at low Reynolds number and a large cylinder aspect ratio. Hydrogen bubbles formed on the cylinder track the von Karman vortex cores. They show a characteristic ‘void’ structure. We propose a vortex skeleton model that includes a pinch-off of opposite-signed cores. Voids occurred at a node in streamwise vibration when close to an antinode in transverse cylinder vibration. A vibration model predicts the ratio of shedding frequency to natural cylinder vibration frequency necessary for void formation at specific spanwise locations.     

Unsteady RANS and detached-eddy simulations of flow around a circular cylinder in ground effect

Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations and detached-eddy simulations (DES) were performed of flow around a circular cylinder placed near and parallel to a moving ground, on which substantially no boundary layer developed to interfere with the cylinder. The results were compared with experiments previously reported by the authors to examine how accurately the URANS and DES can predict the cessation of von Kármán-type vortex shedding and the attendant critical drag reduction of the cylinder in ground effect. The DES, which were performed in a three-dimensional domain with spanwise periodicity imposed, correctly captured the cessation of the vortex shedding, whereas both two- and three-dimensional URANS also predicted it but at a much smaller gap-to-diameter ratio compared with the experiments. The wake structures of the cylinder predicted by the DES were in good agreement with the experiments in both large- and small-gap regimes, and also in the intermediate-gap regime, where the DES captured the intermittence of the vortex shedding in the near-wake region. Based on the results obtained, further discussions are also given to the reason why the von Kármán-type vortices in the URANS solutions incorrectly ‘survived’ until the cylinder came much closer to the ground.     

Wake structures and vortex-induced vibrations of a long flexible cylinder—Part 2: Drag coefficients and vortex modes

Drag coefficients and vortex structures in the wake of a vertical long flexible cylinder vibrating at low mode numbers are presented in this paper. A model with an external diameter of 16 mm and a total length of 1.5 m giving an aspect ratio of about 94 was used to perform more than 100 runs in which Reynolds numbers ranged between 1200 and 12 000. Only the lower 40% of its length was exposed to the water current in the flume and applied top tensions varied from 15 to 110 N giving fundamental natural frequencies in the range from 3 to 7.1 Hz. Reduced velocities based on the fundamental natural frequency up to 16 were reached. The mass ratio was 1.8 and the combined mass-damping parameter about 0.05. The largest drag coefficients were found related to the largest x–y synchronised motions. Digital particle image velocimetry was used to investigate the vortex structures in the wake of the cylinder model. Two modes of vortex shedding were observed, depending on the response branch and the position along the length of the model at which the interrogations were performed.     

Experimental investigation of the turbulent wake past real seabed elements for velocity variations characterization in the water column.

In high flow velocity areas like those suitable for marine energy application, bathymetry variations create strong velocity fluctuations in the water column. It is therefore essential to characterize the turbulence evolution in the wake of seabed elements which may impact the loads on tidal turbines. For that purpose, experiments are carried out in a flume tank with R_e as high as achievable in Froude similitude, with bathymetry variations experimentally represented with various wall-mounted square elements of height H: a cylinder or a cube as unitary obstacles and combinations of these elements followed by an inclined floor to resemble smooth bathymetry changes. The onset flow is a simple boundary layer profile with height 1.3 H and a low turbulence intensity. PIV and LDV measurements are used to investigate the wake past all test cases in order to distinguish high floor elevation cases (unitary obstacles) from mean roughness effect (obstacle combinations). Results show that the obstacle combinations produce a wake less extended than for a single wide cylinder that produces an extended wake and very energetic turbulent events. With a single cube, no downstream development of large turbulent events exist and the wake reduces by a factor of 3 compared to the wake cylinder case. An inclined floor downstream of a single wall-mounted obstacle reduces its wake length but does not alter the turbulent structures shed. Turbulent velocity profiles extracted from every wake topology investigated are also compared. The general conclusion is that: for small aspect ratio cases, the obstacle will not affect the water column. On the contrary, strong energetic turbulent events are emitted from large aspect ratio obstacles. Combinations cases stand in-between.     

Formation, evolution, and decay of a vortex street in the wake of a streamlined body

The decay of a Kármán vortex street and the formation of a secondary vortex structure in the far wake of a streamlined cylinder are studied. The dynamics of spatially evolving vortex structures is examined in the free flow and in the following ways of external influence on this flow: rotation with a constant velocity and translational and rotational oscillations of the cylinder. The results are obtained by numerically solving the Navier-Stokes equations with two different methods. The corresponding boundary value problems are formulated in the domains extended up to 500 radii of the cylinder.     

On the spatio-temporal structure of cylinder wakes

The wake of a short aspect ratio cylinder placed in a uniform flow is experimentally investigated. After having characterized the temporal behavior of the Bénard–Von Kàrmàn vortex shedding by the use of a classical hot-wire anemometer, an ultrasound anemometry technique is applied to study the spatial critical behavior of the envelope of the transverse velocity of the wake. It is shown that this envelope which represents the spatial form of the global mode of the wake, follows universal scaling laws which are in agreement with a second order phase transition. In a second set of experiments, the behavior of the longitudinal velocity fluctuations is also investigated. It is discovered that there is a special point several diameters behind the cylinder, which plays a role of a wave maker. Finally, for very small aspect ratio cylinders, symmetric vortex shedding is reported and interpreted using a system of coupled oscillators. Received: 15 May 1997/Accepted: 20 January 1998     

The effect of a wake-mounted splitter plate on the flow around a surface-mounted finite-height circular cylinder

The influence of a wake-mounted splitter plate on the flow around a surface-mounted circular cylinder of finite height was investigated experimentally using a low-speed wind tunnel. The experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number of Re=7.4×10⁴ for cylinder aspect ratios of AR=9, 7, 5 and 3. The thickness of the boundary layer on the ground plane relative to the cylinder diameter was δ/D=1.5. The splitter plates were mounted on the wake centreline with negligible gap between the base of the cylinder and the leading edge of the plate. The lengths of the splitter plates, relative to the cylinder diameter, ranged from L/D=1 to 7, and the plate height was always equal to the cylinder height. Measurements of the mean drag force coefficient were obtained with a force balance, and measurements of the vortex shedding frequency were obtained with a single-component hot-wire probe situated in the wake of the cylinder–plate combination. Compared to the well-studied case involving an infinite circular cylinder, the splitter plate was found to be a less effective drag-reduction device for finite circular cylinders. Significant reduction in the mean drag coefficient was realized only for the finite circular cylinder of AR=9 with intermediate-length splitter plates of L/D=1–3. The mean drag coefficients of the other cylinders were almost unchanged. In terms of its effect on vortex shedding, a splitter plate of sufficient length was able to suppress Kármán vortex shedding for all of the finite circular cylinders tested. For AR=9, vortex shedding suppression occurred for L/D≥5, which is similar to the case of the infinite circular cylinder. For the smaller-aspect-ratio cylinders, however, the splitter plate was more effective than what occurs for the infinite circular cylinder: for AR=3, vortex shedding suppression occurred for all of the splitter plates tested (L/D≥1); for AR=5 and 7, vortex shedding suppression occurred for L/D≥1.5.     

壁面对串列双圆柱尾迹影响的实验研究

为研究壁面对近壁等直径串列双圆柱尾迹特性的影响,用PIV和压力传感器测量尾迹湍流的涡结构及频谱.实验在循环水槽内进行,基于圆柱直径D的雷诺数为1696,壁面边界层厚度为6.6D.影响尾迹流场结构的两个重要的特征参数是T/D和G/D(T为两圆柱中心间的距离,G为圆柱下表面与壁面间的距离),文中主要考察G/D的影响.实验中...