URANS vs. experiments of flow induced motions of multiple circular cylinders with passive turbulence control

Two-dimensional Unsteady Reynolds-Average Navier–Stokes equations with the Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model are used to simulate the flow induced motions of multiple circular cylinders with passive turbulence control (PTC) in steady uniform flow. Four configurations with 1, 2, 3, and 4 cylinders in tandem are simulated and studied at a series of Reynolds numbers in the range of 30 000<Re<120 000. Simulation results are verified by experimental data measured in the Marine Renewable Energy Laboratory. Good agreement was observed between the values of vorticity, amplitude ratio, and frequency ratio predicted by numerical simulations and experimental measurements. The amplitude and frequency response show the initial and upper branches in vortex induced vibration (VIV), transition from VIV to galloping, and galloping branch for all PTC-cylinders. The maximum amplitude of 2.9 diameters for the first cylinder is achieved at Re=104 356 in the numerical results. Compared with the first cylinder, the VIV initial branch starts at higher Re for the downstream cylinders due to the presence of the upstream cylinder(s). 2P and 2P+2S vortex patterns are observed at Re=62 049 and Re=90 254 for the single PTC-cylinder. Furthermore, the shed vortices of the downstream cylinders are strongly disrupted and modified by the vortices shed from the upstream one in the cases of multiple PTC-cylinders.