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.     

Open and closed-loop control of transonic buffet on 3D turbulent wings using fluidic devices

This paper presents an overview of the work performed recently at ONERA on the control of the buffet phenomenon. This aerodynamic instability induces strong wall pressure fluctuations and as such limits aircraft envelope; consequently, it is interesting to try to delay its onset, in order to enlarge aircraft flight envelop, but also to provide more flexibility during the design phase. Several types of flow control have been investigated, either passive (mechanical vortex generators) or active (fluidic VGs, fluidic trailing-edge device (TED)). It is shown than mechanical and fluidic VGs are able to delay buffet onset in the angle-of-attack domain by suppressing the separation downstream of the shock. The effect of the fluidic TED is different, the separation is not suppressed, but the rear wing loading is increased and consequently the buffet onset is not delayed to higher angles of attack, but only to higher lift coefficient. Then, a closed loop control methodology based on a quasi-static approach is defined and several architectures are tested for various parameters such as the input signal, the objective function or, the tuning of the feedback gain. All closed loop methods are implemented on a dSPACE device calculating in real time the fluidic actuators command from the unsteady pressure sensors data.     

On the effect of the nozzle design on the performances of gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone separators

This paper constitutes an experimental study of the separation performances of a gas–liquid cylindrical cyclone (GLCC) separator that interests the oil industry. The global hydrodynamics behavior in the GLCC is characterized by flow visualization under various inflow operating conditions. The effect of the inlet nozzle design on the performances of the separator is studied by using three different nozzles, and it proves to be a key parameter. With an insufficient nozzle restriction, low swirl intensity is imparted to the flow. Due to inadequate centrifugal effects, liquid is prematurely carried over by the gas as flooding occurs in the separator upper part. High amounts of gas are also carried under by the liquid stream. On the other hand, with a too severe nozzle convergence, the important drag applied by the gas leads to liquid “short circuiting” the cyclone toward the gas outlet. In addition to the nozzle design, the separator performances are influenced by phenomena such as liquid bridging or the occurrence of the slug flow regime at the cyclone inlet. This paper leads to a better understanding of the links between the hydrodynamics in the GLCC and its operational limits, which is necessary to enable reliable scaling up tools.     

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.     

Dependence of flow classification on the Reynolds number for a two-cylinder wake

This work aims to investigate the dependence of flow classification on the Reynolds number (Re) for the wake of two staggered cylinders. The Re examined ranges from 1.5×10³ to 2.0×10⁴. The pitch ratio, P^⁎=P/d examined is 1.2–6.0 (d is the cylinder diameter), and angle (α) is 0–90°, where P is the center-to-center spacing between two cylinders and α is the angle between the incident flow and the line through the cylinder centers. Two single hotwires were used to measure simultaneously the fluctuating streamwise velocities (u) in the vortex streets generated by the two cylinders. The power spectral density functions and the Strouhal numbers were then obtained from the u signals, based on which the flow structure pattern or mode could be determined. Over two hundred configurations of two staggered cylinders have been examined for each Re. It is found that Re has an appreciable effect on the dependence of the flow mode on P^⁎ and α. The observation is connected to the Re effect on the generic features of a two-cylinder wake such as flow separation, boundary layer thickness, gap flow deflection and vortex formation length.     

Non-planar spin texture driven dissipation in a ferromagnet-superconductor bilayer

We report the observation of a pronounced dip in the in-plane magnetic field (H_∥) dependence of the critical current density J_c(H) and a peak in resistance R(H) of a NbN-HoNi₅ bilayer at temperatures below the magnetic ordering temperature (T_Curie ≈ 3.5 K) of HoNi₅, which is lower than the onset temperature (≈9 K) of superconductivity in the NbN layer. The extrema in J_c(H) and R(H) appear at fields much below the upper critical field of NbN. We attribute these features to a coupling between localized out-of-plane moments present in the magnetic film and Pearl vortices of the superconducting layer. A spin re-orientation transition of the localized moments by H_∥ breaks this coupling, leading to the observed excess dissipation.     

Role of anisotropy on the domain wall properties of ferromagnetic nanotubes

In this paper we investigate the role of magneto-crystalline anisotropy on the domain wall (DW) properties of tubular magnetic nanostructures. Based on a theoretical model and micromagnetic simulations, we show that either cubic or uniaxial magneto-crystalline anisotropies have some influence on the domain wall properties (wall size, propagation velocity and energy barrier) and then on the overall magnetization reversal mechanism. Besides the characterization of the transverse and vortex domain wall sizes for different anisotropies, we predict an anisotropy dependent transition between the occurrence of transverse and vortex domain walls in tubular nanowires. We also discuss the dynamics of the vortex DW propagation gradually increasing the uniaxial anisotropy constant and we found that the average velocity is considerably reduced. Our results show that different anisotropies can be considered in real samples in order to manipulate the domain wall behavior and the magnetization reversal process.     

Wake dynamics of external flow past a curved circular cylinder with the free-stream aligned to the plane of curvature

The fundamental mechanism of vortex shedding past a curved cylinder has been investigated at a Reynolds number of 100 using three-dimensional spectral/hp computations. Two different configurations are presented herein: in both cases the main component of the geometry is a circular cylinder whose centreline is a quarter of a ring and the inflow direction is parallel to the plane of curvature. In the first set of simulations the cylinder is forced to transversely oscillate at a fixed amplitude, while the oscillation frequency has been varied around the Strouhal value. Both geometries exhibit in-phase vortex shedding, with the vortex cores bent according to the body's curvature, although the wake topology is markedly different. In particular, the configuration that was found to suppress the vortex shedding in absence of forced motion exhibits now a primary instability in the near wake. A second set of simulations has been performed imposing an oscillatory roll to the curved cylinder, which is forced to rotate transversely around the axis of its bottom section. This case shows entirely different wake features from the previous one: the vortex shedding appears to be out-of-phase along the body's span, with straight cores that tend to twist after being shed and manifest a secondary spanwise instability. Further, the damping effect stemming from the transverse planar motion of the part of the cylinder parallel to the flow is no longer present, leading to a positive energy transfer from the fluid to the structure.