Numerical simulation of cross-flow around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration

Successful numerical simulations can reveal important flow characteristics and information which are extremely difficult to obtain experimentally. Two- and three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulations of cross-flow around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration are performed using a finite-volume method. For 2-D studies, the Reynolds numbers (Re) are chosen to be Re=100 and 200 and the spacing ratio L/D is set at 1.6, 2.5, 3.5, 4.0 and 5.0. For the 3-D investigation, the simulation is only performed at a Re=200, a spacing ratio L/D=4.0 and an aspect ratio H/D=16. The 2-D studies reveal three distinct flow patterns: (I) a stable shielding flow; (II) a wiggling shielding flow and (III) a vortex shedding flow. A transformation of the flow pattern from (I) to (II) at Re=100 will increase the amplitude of the maximum fluctuating pressure on the downstream cylinder surface by 4–12 times, while a transformation of the flow pattern from (II) to (III) will enhance the maximum fluctuating pressure amplitude by 2–3 times. There is a large discrepancy between 2-D simulation and flow visualization results at L/D=4.0 and Re=200. A probable cause could be the strong 3-D effect at the ends of the cylinder at low H/D. It was found that, for an in-line square configuration at critical L/D and when H/D is lower than a certain value, 3-D effects are very significant at the ends of the cylinders. In such cases, a time-consuming 3-D numerical simulation will have to be performed if full replication of the flow phenomenon were to be achieved.     

A numerical investigation of the effects of the spanwise length on the 3-D wake of a circular cylinder

The numerical prediction of vortex-induced vibrations has been the focus of numerous investigations to date using tools such as computational fluid dynamics. In particular, the flow around a circular cylinder has raised much attention as it is present in critical engineering problems such as marine cables or risers. Limitations due to the computational cost imposed by the solution of a large number of equations have resulted in the study of mostly 2-D flows with only a few exceptions. The discrepancies found between experimental data and 2-D numerical simulations suggested that 3-D instabilities occurred in the wake of the cylinder that affect substantially the characteristics of the flow. The few 3-D numerical solutions available in the literature confirmed such a hypothesis. In the present investigation the effect of the spanwise extension of the solution domain on the 3-D wake of a circular cylinder is investigated for various Reynolds numbers between 40 and 1000. By assessing the minimum spanwise extension required to predict accurately the flow around a circular cylinder, the infinitely long cylinder is reduced to a finite length cylinder, thus making numerical solution an effective way of investigating flows around circular cylinders. Results are presented for three different spanwise extensions, namely πD/2, πD and 2πD. The analysis of the force coefficients obtained for the various Reynolds numbers together with a visualization of the three-dimensionalities in the wake of the cylinder allowed for a comparison between the effects of the three spanwise extensions. Furthermore, by showing the different modes of vortex shedding present in the wake and by analysing the streamwise components of the vorticity, it was possible to estimate the spanwise wavelengths at the various Reynolds numbers and to demonstrate that a finite spanwise extension is sufficient to accurately predict the flow past an infinitely long circular cylinder.     

A numerical investigation of the flow over a pair of identical square cylinders in a tandem arrangement

This paper describes a numerical study of the two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional unsteady flow over two square cylinders arranged in an in‐line configuration for Reynolds numbers from 40 to 1000 and a gap spacing of 4D, where D is the cross‐sectional dimension of the cylinders. The effect of the cylinder spacing, in the range G = 0.3D to 12D, was also studied for selected Reynolds numbers, that is, Re = 130, 150 and 500. An incompressible finite volume code with a collocated grid arrangement was employed to carry out the flow simulations. Instantaneous and time‐averaged and spanwise‐averaged vorticity, pressure, and streamlines are computed and compared for different Reynolds numbers and gap spacings. The time averaged global quantities such as the Strouhal number, the mean and the RMS values of the drag force, the base suction pressure, the lift force and the pressure coefficient are also calculated and compared with the results of a single cylinder. Three major regimes are distinguished according to the normalized gap spacing between cylinders, that is, the single slender‐body regime (G < 0.5), the reattach regime (G < 4) and co‐shedding or binary vortex regime (G ≥4). Hysteresis with different vortex patterns is observed in a certain range of the gap spacings and also for the onset of the vortex shedding. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal study of an array of inline horizontal cylinders below a nearly adiabatic ceiling

Steady state two-dimensional free convection heat transfer from a horizontal, isothermal cylinder in a horizontal array of cylinders consists of three isothermal cylinders, located underneath a nearly adiabatic ceiling is studied experimentally. A Mach–Zehnder interferometer is used to determine thermal field and smoke test is made to visualize flow field. Effects of the cylinders spacing to its diameter (S/D), and cylinder distance from ceiling to its diameter (L/D) on heat transfer from the centered cylinder are investigated for Rayleigh numbers from 1500 to 6000. Experiments are performed for an inline array configuration of horizontal cylinders of diameters D = 13 mm. Results indicate that due to the nearly adiabatic ceiling and neighboring cylinders, thermal plume resulted from the centered cylinder separates from cylinder surface even for high L/D values and forming recirculation regions. By decreasing the space ratio S/D, the recirculation flow strength increases. Also, by decreasing S/D, boundary layers of neighboring cylinders combine and form a developing flow between cylinders. The strength of developing flow depends on the cylinders Rayleigh number and S/D ratio. Due to the developing flow between cylinders, the vortex flow on the top of the centered cylinder appears for all L/D ratios and this vortex influences the value of local Nusselt number distribution around the cylinder.Variation of average Nusselt number of the centered cylinder depends highly on L/D and the trend with S/D depends on the value of Rayleigh number.     

Three dimensional analytical solution for finite circular cylinders subjected to indirect tensile test

This paper derives a new three-dimensional (3-D) analytical solution for the indirect tensile tests standardized by ISRM (International Society for Rock Mechanics) for testing rocks, and by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) for testing concretes. The present solution for solid circular cylinders of finite length can be considered as a 3-D counterpart of the classical two dimensional (2-D) solutions by Hertz in 1883 and by Hondros in 1959. The contacts between the two steel diametral loading platens and the curved surfaces of a cylindrical specimen of length H and diameter D are modeled as circular-to-circular Hertz contact and straight-to-circular Hertz contact for ISRM and ASTM standards respectively. The equilibrium equations of the linear elastic circular cylinder of finite length are first uncoupled by using displacement functions, which are then expressed in infinite series of some combinations of Bessel functions, hyperbolic functions, and trigonometric functions. The applied tractions are expanded in Fourier–Bessel series and boundary conditions are used to yield a system of simultaneous equations. For typical rock cylinders of 54 mm diameter subjected to ISRM indirect tensile tests, the contact width is in the order of 2 mm (or a contact angle of 4°) whereas for typical asphalt cylinders of 101.6 mm diameter subjected to ASTM indirect tensile tests the contact width is about 10 mm (or a contact angle of 12°). For such contact conditions, 50 terms in both Fourier and Fourier–Bessel series expansions are found sufficient in yielding converged solutions. The maximum hoop stress is always observed within the central portion on a circular section close to the flat end surfaces. The difference in the maximum hoop stress between the 2-D Hondros solution and the present 3-D solution increases with the aspect ratio H/D as well as Poisson’s ratio ν. When contact friction is neglected, the effect of loading platen stiffness on tensile stress in cylinders is found negligible. For the aspect ratio of H/D = 0.5 recommended by ISRM and ASTM, the error in tensile strength may be up to 15% for both typical rocks and asphalts, whereas for longer cylinders with H/D up to 2 the error ranges from 15% for highly compressible materials, and to 60% for nearly incompressible materials. The difference in compressive radial stress between the 2-D Hertz solution or 2-D Hondros solution and the present 3-D solution also increases with Poisson’s ratio and aspect ratio H/D. In summary, the 2-D solution, in general, underestimates the maximum tensile stress and cannot predict the location of the maximum hoop stress which typically locates close to the end surfaces of the cylinder.     

Flow-excited acoustic resonance of two side-by-side cylinders in cross-flow

The aeroacoustic response of two side-by-side circular cylinders in cross-flow is investigated experimentally. In order to investigate the effect of the gap between the cylinders on the acoustic resonance mechanism, six spacing ratios between the cylinders, in the range of T/D=1.25–3, have been investigated, where D is the diameter of the cylinders and T the centre-to-centre distance between them. Special attention is given to the intermediate spacing ratio range, which exhibits bistable flow regimes in the absence of resonance. During the tests, the acoustic cross-modes of the duct housing the cylinders are self-excited. For the intermediate spacing ratios, T/D=1.25, 1.35, 1.46 and 1.75, two distinct vortex-shedding frequencies at the off-resonance conditions are observed. These are associated with the wide and narrow wakes of the cylinders, as described in the literature. In this case, acoustic resonances occur at a Strouhal number, which is between those observed before the onset of resonance. The acoustic resonance synchronizes vortex shedding in the two wakes and thereby eliminates the bistable flow phenomenon. For large spacing ratios, T/D=2.5 and 3, vortex shedding occurs at a single Strouhal number at which the acoustic resonance is excited.     

Flow patterns and turbulence effects in large cylinder arrays

Studies on flow-induced vibrations in large tube bundles are usually focused solely on frequency analysis, without considering the flow patterns which are responsible for the fluid forces. Furthermore, investigations which involve variations in the spacing ratios do not separate transversal and longitudinal proximity effects. The purpose of this article is to separately analyze the influence of the transversal (T/D) and longitudinal (L/D) spacing ratios of a confined in-line cylinder array with five rows on the flow characteristics and to identify flow patterns. The laser Doppler anemometry technique was employed to acquire the mean velocity and its fluctuations in the transversal and longitudinal directions between the cylinder rows. Strouhal numbers and regimes reported in the literature were identified in the experiments. The same regime did not always persist along all cylinder rows for a given spacing ratio, as a result of the combined longitudinal and transversal proximity effects and also of the generation of turbulence by the array. For the smallest T/D ratio, a quasi-steady behavior associated with the biased flow pattern was noted in the experimental set-up and flip-flopping was observed in one case. Additionally, the flow characteristics in these arrays diverged from tube bundle classifications described in the literature. The behavior of the fluid forces and susceptibility to vibrations in the array were predicted based on the turbulence intensity of the incident flow of the cylinders. The results reinforced the need to extend flow pattern investigations to arrays with more cylinder rows and to consider both transversal and longitudinal proximity effects, when studying flow-induced vibrations.     

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.     

CONTROL OF FLOW PAST BLUFF BODIES USING ROTATING CONTROL CYLINDERS

Computational results for control of flow past a circular cylinder using small rotating cylinders are presented. A well-proven stabilized finite-element method, that has been applied to various flow problems earlier, is utilized to solve the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in the primitive variables formulation. The formulation is first applied to study flow past an isolated rotating cylinder. Excellent match with experimental results, reported earlier, is observed. It is found that in purely two-dimensional flows, very high lift coefficients can be realized. However, it is observed, via three-dimensional Navier–Stokes simulations, that the end-effects and centrifugal instabilities along the cylinder span lead to a loss of lift and increase in drag. The aspect ratio of the cylinder plays an important role. The flow past a bluff body with two rotating control cylinders is studied using 2-D numerical simulations. The effect of the Reynolds number is studied by carrying out simulations for Re=10²and 10⁴. Finite element meshes with an adequate number of grid points are employed to resolve the flow in the gap between the main and control cylinders. Two values of the gap are considered: 0·01D and 0·075 D, where D is the diameter of the main cylinder. It is observed that when the control cylinders rotate at high speed, such that the tip speed is 5 times the free-stream speed, the flow at Re=100 achieves a steady state. For Re=10⁴, even though the flow remains unsteady, the wake is highly organized and narrower compared to the one without control. The results are in good agreement with the flow-visualization studies conducted by other researchers for bluff bodies using similar control concepts. In all the cases, a significant reduction in the overall drag coefficient and the unsteady aerodynamic forces acting on the main cylinder is observed. Results are also presented for the power requirements of the system for translation and rotation. It is found that the coefficient of power required for the rotation of control cylinders is significant for Re=100 but negligible for Re=10⁴flow. The size of the gap is found to be more critical for the Re=10⁴flows. This study brings out the relevance of the gap as a design parameter for such flow control devices.     

Two-dimensionality of a cantilevered-cylinder wake in the presence of an oscillating upstream cylinder

The effect of a longitudinally oscillating cylinder on the two-dimensionality of flow around a downstream cylinder is studied based on a two-point correlation measured using two hot-wires. The oscillation amplitude is A/d=0.472 and the oscillation frequency f_e/f_s=0.0372 and 0.186, where d is the cylinder diameter and f_s the frequency of natural vortex shedding from an isolated stationary cylinder. Three centre-to-centre spacing (L) ratios of the two cylinders were examined, i.e., L/d=1.8, 2.5 and 4.8, representing three typical flow regimes. The experiment was conducted at a Reynolds number (Re) of 5920, based on d and the free-stream velocity. It is found that the spanwise correlation of the flow depends on not only the oscillation but also the flow regimes. At L/d=1.8, the correlation is strongest among the three regimes, but worst in the co-shedding regime (L/d=4.8). The upstream cylinder oscillation improves the spanwise correlation of the flow in the gap of the cylinders, irrespective of regimes, especially for L/d=1.8 and 2.5, but impairs that behind the cylinders for L/d=1.8 and 2.5 due to a change in the flow regime. A theoretical analysis based on the boundary vorticity theory indicates that the oscillation increases the vorticity flux, in particular, in the spanwise direction between the cylinders, resulting in a significantly improved spanwise correlation, though this increase is negligibly small behind the downstream cylinder.     

Vortex-shedding from single and tandem cylinders in the presence of applied sound

A single cylinder and two tandem cylinder configurations with longitudinal pitch ratios L/D=1.75 and 2.5 were rigidly mounted in an open circuit wind tunnel and a standing acoustic pressure wave was imposed so that the acoustic particle velocity was normal to both the cylinder axis and the mean flow velocity. The effect of sound on the vortex-shedding was investigated for various amplitudes by means of pressure taps on the cylinders and wake hot-wire probes. These tests show that applied sound can entrain and shift the natural vortex-shedding frequency to the frequency of excitation and produce nonlinearities in the wake. The lock-in envelope for the tandem cylinders is considerably larger than for the single cylinder. The lock-in range for the smaller tandem cylinder spacing was broader still than either the single cylinder, or the L/D=2.5 tandem cylinder case. The pressure and hot-wire measurements show for the single cylinder, and tandem cylinder configuration with pitch ratio L/D=2.5, that there was a phase jump near the coincidence of the vortex-shedding frequency and the excitation frequency, while there was no jump for the pitch ratio of 1.75. As well, the applied sound field was also noted to induce vortex-shedding in the gap for the L/D=2.5 case, while no vortex-shedding was noted for the smaller pitch ratio.     

Vortex shedding from two finite circular cylinders in a staggered configuration

Wind tunnel experiments were conducted to measure the vortex shedding frequencies for two circular cylinders of finite height arranged in a staggered configuration. The cylinders were mounted normal to a ground plane and were partially immersed in a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer. The Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter was Re_D=2.4×10⁴, the cylinder aspect ratio was AR=9, the boundary layer thickness relative to the cylinder height was δ/H=0.4, the centre-to-centre pitch ratio was varied from P/D=1.125 to 5, and the incidence angle was incremented in small steps from α=0° to 90°. The Strouhal numbers were obtained behind the upstream and downstream cylinders using hot-wire anemometry. From the behaviour of the Strouhal number data obtained at the mid-height position, the staggered configuration could be broadly classified by the pitch ratio as closely spaced (P/D<1.5), moderately spaced (1.5?P/D?3), or widely spaced (P/D>3). The closely spaced staggered finite cylinders were characterized by the same Strouhal number measured behind both cylinders, an indication of single bluff-body behaviour. Moderately spaced staggered finite cylinders were characterized by two Strouhal numbers at most incidence angles. Widely spaced staggered cylinders were characterized by a single Strouhal number for both cylinders, indicative of synchronized vortex shedding from both cylinders at all incidence angles. For selected staggered configurations representative of closely spaced, moderately spaced, or widely spaced behaviour, Strouhal number measurements were also made along the vertical lengths of the cylinders, from the ground plane to the free end. The power spectra showed that for certain cylinder arrangements, because of the influences of the cylinder–wall junction and free-end flow fields, the Strouhal numbers and flow patterns change along the cylinder.     

Effect of flow diverters on free convection heat transfer from a pair of vertical arrays of isothermal cylinders

Laminar free convection heat transfer from two vertical arrays of five isothermal cylinders separated by flow diverters is studied experimentally using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The width of flow diverters is kept constant to two-cylinder diameters and the cylinders vertical center-to-center spacing is equal to three-cylinder diameter. Effect of the ratio of the horizontal spacing between two cylinder arrays to their diameter (S_h/D) on heat transfer from the cylinders is investigated for various Rayleigh numbers. The experiments are performed for S_h/D = 2-4, and the Rayleigh number based on the cylinder diameter ranging from 10³ to 3 × 10³. It is observed that for small S_h/D ratios, the flow diverters have a negative effect on the total rate of heat transfer from the arrays; while by increasing the horizontal center to center spacing, they tend to enhance the overall cooling rate of the array. Moreover, increasing Ra and S_h/D generally results in a higher average Nusselt number for each cylinder in the array.     

The aerodynamics of a cylinder submerged in the wake of another

Flow-induced fluctuating lift (C_Lf) and drag (C_Df) forces and Strouhal numbers (St) of a cylinder submerged in the wake of another cylinder are investigated experimentally for Reynolds number (Re)=9.7×10³–6.5×10⁴. The spacing ratio L^⁎ (=L/D) between the cylinders is varied from 1.1 to 4.5, where L is the spacing between the cylinders and D is the cylinder diameter. The results show that C_Lf, C_Df and St are highly sensitive to Re due to change in the inherent nature of the flow structure. How the flow structure is dependent on Re and L^⁎ is presented in a flow structure map. Zdravkovich and Pridden (1977) observed a ‘kink’ in time-mean drag distribution at L^⁎≈2.5 for Re>3.1×10⁴, but not for Re≤3.1×10⁴. The physics is provided here behind the presence and absence of the ‘kink’ that was left unexplained since then.     

Flow between parallel walls containing the lines of neutrally buoyant circular cylinders

The motions of a single and two lines of neutrally buoyant circular cylinders in fluid between flat parallel walls are numerically investigated over the range of the Reynolds number of 12 < Re < 96, the ratio of the diameter of the cylinder D_s to the channel width D of 0.25≤D_s/D≤0.5, and the ratio of the streamwise spacing of the cylinders L to the channel width of 0.75≤L/D≤2. The lattice Boltzmann method is used for computations of the fluid phase and the cylinders are moved according to Newton’s law of motion. The Segré–Silberberg effect is found for both a single and two lines of cylinders. It is also found that for two lines of cylinders with D_s/D=0.25 and L/D=1, the equilibrium positions of the two lines are arranged to be staggered with respect to each other in the flow direction. The effects of the Reynolds number Re, D_s/D, and L/D on the equilibrium position of the lines of cylinders and on the friction factor of the cylinder–fluid mixture are presented and discussed.     

Vortex shedding and acoustic resonance of single and tandem finned cylinders

The effect of fins on vortex shedding and acoustic resonance is investigated for isolated and two tandem cylinders exposed to cross-flow in a rectangular duct. Three spacing ratios between the tandem cylinders (S/D_e=1.5, 2 and 3) are tested for a Reynolds number range from 1.6×10⁴ to 1.1×10⁵. Measurements of sound pressure as well as mean and fluctuating velocities are performed for bare and finned cylinders with three different fin densities. The effect of fins on the sound pressure generated before the onset of acoustic resonance as well as during the pre-coincidence and coincidence resonance is found to be rather complex and depends on the spacing ratio between cylinders, the fin density and the nature of the flow-sound interaction mechanism.For isolated cylinders, the fins reduce the strength of vortex shedding only slightly, but strongly attenuate the radiated sound before and during the occurrence of acoustic resonance. This suggests that the influence of the fins on correlation length is stronger than on velocity fluctuations. In contrast to isolated cylinders, the fins in the tandem cylinder case enhance the vortex shedding process at off-resonant conditions, except for the large spacing case which exhibits a reversed effect at high Reynolds numbers. Regarding the acoustic resonance of the tandem cylinders, the fins promote the onset of the coincidence resonance, but increasing the fin density drastically weakens the intensity of this resonance. The fins are also found to suppress the pre-coincidence resonance for the tandem cylinders with small spacing ratios (S/D_e=1.5, 2 and 2), but for the largest spacing case (S/D_e=3), they are found to have minor effects on the sound pressure and the lock-in range of the pre-coincidence resonance.     

Turbulent Duct Flow Controlled with Spanwise Wall Oscillations

The spanwise oscillation of channel walls is known to substantially reduce the skin-friction drag in turbulent channel flows. In order to understand the limitations of this flow control approach when applied in ducts, direct numerical simulations of controlled turbulent duct flows with an aspect ratio of A R = 3 are performed. In contrast to channel flows, the spanwise extension of the duct is limited. Therefore, the spanwise wall oscillation either directly interacts with the duct side walls or its spatial extent is limited to a certain region of the duct. The present results show that this spanwise limitation of the oscillating region strongly diminishes the drag reduction potential of the control technique. We propose a simple model that allows estimating the achievable drag reduction rates in duct flows as a function of the width of the duct and the spanwise extent of the controlled region.     

Flow-induced vibrations of two circular cylinders in tandem with shear flow at low Reynolds number

The flow-induced vibrations of two elastically mounted circular cylinders subjected to the planar shear flow in tandem arrangement are studied numerically at Re=160. A four-step semi-implicit Characteristic-based split (4-SICBS) finite element method is developed under the framework of the fractional step method to cope with the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) problem. For the computational code verification, two benchmark problems are examined in the laminar region: flow-induced vibration of an elastically mounted cylinder having two degrees of freedom and past two stationary ones in tandem arrangement. Regarding the two-cylinder VIVs in shear flow, the computation is conducted with the cylinder reduced mass M_r=2.5π and the structural damping ratio ξ=0.0. The effects of some key parameters, such as shear rate (k=0.0, 0.05, 0.1), reduced velocity (U_r=3.0–18.0) and spacing ratio (L_x/D=2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 8.0), are demonstrated. It is observed that the shear rate and reduced velocity play an important role in the VIVs of both cylinders at various center-to-center distances. Additionally, in comparison with the single cylinder case, a further study indicated that the gap flow has a significant impact on such a dynamic system, leading it to be more complex. The results show that, the performances of ‘dual-resonant’ are discovered in the shear flow. A valley is formed in transverse oscillation amplitude of DC for each spacing ratio when U_r is about 6.0. For the X–Y trajectories of the circular cylinders, figure-eight, figure-O and oval shape are obtained. Finally, the interactions between cylinders are revealed, together with the wake-induced vibration (WIV) mechanism underlying the oscillation characteristics of both cylinders exposed to shear flow. Besides, the “T+P” wake pattern is discovered herein.     

Flow around four cylinders arranged in a square configuration

This paper presents an experimental study of the flow around four circular cylinders arranged in a square configuration. The Reynolds number was fixed at Re=8000, the pitch-to-diameter ratio between adjacent cylinders was varied from P/D=2 to 5 and the incidence angle was changed from α=0° (in-line square configuration) to 45° (diamond configuration) at an interval of 7.5°. The flow field was measured using digital Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to examine the vortex shedding characteristics of the cylinders, together with direct measurement of fluid dynamic forces (lift and drag) on each cylinder using a piezoelectric load cell. Depending on the pitch ratio, the flow could be broadly classified as shielding regime (P/D≤2), shear layer reattachment regime (2.5≤P/D≤3.5) and vortex impinging regime (P/D≥4). However, this classification is valid only in the case that the cylinder array is arranged nearly in-line with the free stream (α≈0°), because the flow is also sensitive to α. As α increases from 0° to 45°, each cylinder experiences a transition of vortex shedding pattern from a one-frequency mode to a two-frequency mode. The flow interference among the cylinders is complicated, which could be non-synchronous, quasi-periodic or synchronized with a definite phase relationship with other cylinders depending on the combined value of α and P/D. The change in vortex pattern is also reflected by some integral parameters of the flow such as force coefficients, power spectra and Strouhal numbers.     

Large eddy simulations of the flow past two side-by-side circular cylinders

A LES Large Eddy Simulation is performed to study the flow past two side-by-side circular cylinders at a Reynolds number of 5800, based on the free-stream velocity and the cylinders diameter. The centre-to-centre transverse pitch ratio T/D is varied from 1.5 to 3. Both cylinders are slightly heated and the small amount of heat can be treated as a passive scalar. The numerical simulations are in good agreement with experimental observations.