Unsteady forces on circular cylinders in a cross-flow

A three-axis piezoelectric load cell was used to measure the local unsteady forces induced on cylinders placed in a cross-flow. In conjunction with this, a single hot-wire was used to traverse the wake at a fixed distance behind the cylinder so that correlations between the induced forces on the cylinder and the wake velocity could be calculated to provide insight into the character of the flow-induced unsteady forces. Experiments were carried out on both two-dimensional and finite-span cylinders at a Reynolds number of 46,000. For the two-dimensional cylinder case, substantial evidence was obtained to demonstrate that the strength of the vortex roll-up along the span was quite uniform. Consequently, the lift-velocity correlation along the span remained unchanged. On the other hand, there was a total lack of correlation between the fluctuating drag and the wake velocity, thus indicating that the drag signal was not quite periodic. In the finite-span cylinder case, the separated flow from the top edge of the cylinder was found to suppress vortex shedding along the span of the cylinder, destroyed its coherence and caused the wake flow to oscillate in the stream direction. This oscillation induced a significant fluctuating drag on the cylinder. Consequently, the fluctuating drag far exceeded the fluctuating lift and the wake velocity was found to correlate well with the drag and not with the lift. This correlation remained intact along the span of the cylinder. Finally, the rms fluctuating lift and drag forces were found to vary along the cylinder span, with the lift increasing and the drag decreasing as the base of the cylinder is approached; thus suggesting that a submerged two-dimensional region exists near the base of the cylinder.List of symbols a span of active element on cylinder - C _D local rms drag coefficient, - C _L local rms lift coefficient, - C _D local mean drag coefficient - (C _D ) _2D spanwise-averaged mean drag coefficient for two dimensional cylinder - d diameter of cylinder (= 10.2 cm) - D fluctuating component of instantaneous drag - D local rms of fluctuating drag - E _D power spectrum of fluctuating drag, defined as - E _L power spectrum of fluctuating lift, defined as - E _U power spectrum of fluctuating streamwise velocity, defined as - f _L dominant frequency of lift spectrum - f _D dominant frequency of drag spectrum - f _u dominant frequency of velocity spectrum - h span of cylinder - H height of test section (= 30.5 cm) - L fluctuating component of instantaneous lift - L local rms of fluctuating lift - R _Du () cross-correlation function of streamwise velocity and local drag - R _Lu () cross-correlation function of streamwise velocity and local lift - Re Reynolds number, - S _L Strouhal number based on f _L , - S _D Strouhal number based on f _D , - S _U Strouhal number based on f _u , - t time - u fluctuating component of instantaneous streamwise velocity - u rms of streamwise fluctuating velocity - u rms of streamwise fluctuating velocity upstream of cylinder - U mean streamwise velocity - U mean stream velocity upstream of cylinder - x streamwise distance measured from axis of cylinder - y transverse distance measured from axis of cylinder - z spanwise distance measured from floor of test section - v kinematic viscosity of air - density of air - time lag in cross-correlation function - _D normalized spectrum of fluctuating drag - _L normalized spectrum of fluctuating lift - _U normalized spectrum of fluctuating streamwise velocity     

Strouhal numbers in the wake of two inline cylinders

The dominant vortex frequencies f _s in the wake of two tandem circular cylinders of identical diameter d have been measured simultaneously using two hot wires placed behind each cylinder. Measurements were conducted over the Reynolds number Re (U d/, where U and are the free-stream velocity and the kinematic viscosity of fluid, respectively) =800–4.2×10⁴ and the cylinder centre-to-centre spacing L/d=1–15. The Strouhal number St (f _s d/U ) exhibits a strong dependence on L/d and Re. For L/d<(L/d)_c, which is a critical value and ranges between 3.5 and 5, there is no vortex street formed in the gap between the cylinders, and St measured behind the downstream cylinder drops rapidly for increasing L/d. For L/d>(L/d)_c, co-shedding occurs, that is, vortices are shed from the upstream as well as the downstream cylinder, and their frequencies are found to be identical. St climbs with increasing L/d, approaching a constant between 0.18 and 0.22 for L/d>10. The St–Re relationship is classified into four categories, based on their behaviours, which are associated with distinct flow physics—category 1: for 1L/d<2, the shear layers separated from the upstream cylinder roll up behind the downstream cylinder; category 2: for 2L/d3, there is a transition from the shear layer rollup behind to reattachment on the downstream cylinder; category 3: for 3<L/d5, transition from the reattachment to co-shedding regime occurs at a critical Reynolds number; and category 4: the flow for L/d>5 is characterized by co-shedding only. The present measurements reconfirm the previous observation of a bi-stable flow at the transition from the reattachment to co-shedding regime. It is found for the first time that another bi-stable flow occurs at the transition from category 1 to 2, that is, the stable reattachment co-exists with the stable rollup (behind the downstream cylinder) of shear layers separating from the upstream cylinder, resulting in two distinct vortex-shedding frequencies even at the same Re and L/d. The St behaviour is further discussed along with flow visualization using the laser-induced fluorescence technique.     

Two circular cylinders in cross-flow: A review

Pairs of circular cylinders immersed in a steady cross-flow are encountered in many engineering applications. The cylinders may be arranged in tandem, side-by-side, or staggered configurations. Wake and proximity interference effects, which are determined primarily by the longitudinal and transverse spacing between the cylinders, and also by the Reynolds number, have a strong influence on the flow patterns, aerodynamic forces, vortex shedding, and other parameters. This paper reviews the current understanding of the flow around two “infinite” circular cylinders of equal diameter immersed in a steady cross-flow, with a focus on the near-wake flow patterns, Reynolds number effects, intermediate wake structure and behaviour, and the general trends in the measurements of the aerodynamic force coefficients and Strouhal numbers. A primary focus is on the key experimental and numerical studies that have appeared since the last major review of this subject more than 20 years ago.     

Mixed convection heat transfer from three heated square cylinders in cross-flow at low Reynolds numbers

This paper presents the effects of cross buoyancy and Prandtl number on the flow and heat transfer characteristics around three equal isothermal square cylinders arranged in a staggered configuration within an unconfined medium. Transient two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed with a finite volume code based on the SIMPLEC algorithm in a collocated grid system. The pertinent dimensionless parameters, such as Reynolds, Prandtl and Richardson numbers are considered in the range of 1 ≤ Re ≤ 30, 0.7 ≤ Pr ≤ 100 and 0 ≤ Ri ≤ 1. The representative streamlines, vortex structures and isotherm patterns are presented and discussed. In addition, the overall drag and lift coefficients and average Nusselt numbers are determined to elucidate the effects of Reynolds, Prandtl and Richardson numbers on flow and heat transfer. The flow is observed to be steady for all the ranges of parameters considered. The drag coefficient is found to decrease with Re (for Ri = 0) and Ri at low Pr, whereas it increases with Pr at higher Ri. The lift coefficient decreases with Ri at low Pr and increases with Pr at higher Ri. The time and surface average cylinder Nusselt number is found to increase monotonically with Re as well as Pr while it remains almost insensitive to Ri at low Pr.     

Strouhal numbers,forces and flow structures around two tandem cylinders of different diameters

This paper presents a detailed investigation of Strouhal numbers, forces and flow structures in the wake of two tandem cylinders of different diameters. While the downstream cylinder diameter, D, was fixed at 25 mm, the upstream cylinder diameter, d, was varied from 0.24D to D. The spacing between the cylinders was 5.5d, at which vortices were shed from both cylinders. Two distinct vortex frequencies were detected behind the downstream cylinder for the first time for two tandem cylinders of the same diameter. The two vortex frequencies remained for d/D=1.0–0.4. One was the same as detected in the gap of the cylinders, and the other was of relatively low frequency and was ascribed to vortex shedding from the downstream cylinder. While the former, if normalized, declined progressively from 0.196 to 0.173, the latter increased from 0.12 to 0.203 with decreasing d/D from 1 to 0.24. The flow structure around the two cylinders is examined in the context of the observed Strouhal numbers. The time-averaged drag on the downstream cylinder also climbed with decreasing d/D, though the fluctuating forces dropped because vortices impinging upon the downstream cylinder decreased in scale with decreasing d/D.     

Aspect ratio effect on flow-induced forces on circular cylinders in a cross-flow

Finite-span circular cylinders with two different aspect ratios, placed in a cross-flow, are investigated experimentally at a cylinder Reynolds number of 46,000. Simultaneous measurements of the flow-induced unsteady forces on the cylinders and the stream velocity in the wake are carried out. These results together with mean drag measurements along the span and available literature data are used to evaluate the flow mechanisms responsible for the induced unsteady forces and the effect of aspect ratio on these forces. The coherence of vortex shedding along the span of the cylinder is partially destroyed by the separated flow emanating from the top and by the recirculating flow behind the cylinder. As a result, the fluctuating lift decreases drastically. Based on the data collected, it is conjectured that the fluctuating recirculating flow behind the cylinder is the flow mechanism responsible for the unsteady drag and causes it to increase beyond the fluctuating lift. The fluctuating recirculating flow is a direct consequence of the unsteady separated flow. The unsteady forces vary along the span, with lift increasing and drag decreasing towards the cylinder base. When the cylinder span is large compared to the wall boundary layer thickness, a submerged two-dimensional region exists near the base. As the span decreases, the submerged two-dimensional region becomes smaller and eventually vanishes. Altogether, these results show that fluctuating drag is the dominant unsteady force in finite-span cylinders placed in a cross-flow. Its characteristic frequency is larger than that of the vortex shedding frequency.List of symbols a span of active element on cylinder, = 2.5 cm - C _D local rms drag coefficient, 2D/ U ² da - C _L local rms lift coefficient, 2l/ U ² da - C _D local mean drag coefficient, 2D/ U ² da - C _D spanwise-averaged C _D for finite-span cylinder - (C _D ) _2D spanwise-averaged mean drag coefficient for two-dimensional cylinder - C _p pressured coefficient - -(C _p ) _b pressure coefficient at = - d diameter of cylinder, = 10.2 cm - D fluctuating component of instantaneous drag - D local rms of fluctuating drag - D local mean drag - E _D power spectrum of fluctuating drag, defined as - E _L power spectra of fluctuating lift, defined as - f _D dominant frequency of drag spectrum - f _L dominant frequency of lift spectrum - f _u dominant frequency of velocity spectrum - h span of cylinder - H height of test section, = 30.5 cm - L fluctuating component of instantaneous lift - L local rms of fluctuating lift - R _Du () cross-correlation function of streamwise velocity and local drag, - R _Lu () cross-correlation function of stream wise velocity and local lift, - Re Reynolds number, U d/y - S _L Strouhal number based on f _L ,f _L d/U - S _D Strouhal number based on f _D ,f _D d/U - S _u Strouhal number based on f _u , f _u d/U - t time - u fluctuating component of instantaneous streamwise velocity - U mean streamwise velocity - mean stream velocity upstream of cylinder - x streamwise distance measured from axis of cylinder - y transverse distance measured from axis of test section - z spanwise distance measured from cylinder base - angular position on cylinder circumference measured from forward stagnation - kinematic viscosity of air - density of air - time lag in cross-correlation function - _D normalized spectrum of fluctuating drag - _L normalized spectrum of fluctuating lift     

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.     

Response and wake patterns of two side-by-side elastically supported circular cylinders in uniform laminar cross-flow

Vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) of two side-by-side elastically supported circular cylinders in a uniform flow with the Reynolds number of 100 are numerically investigated by using the immersed boundary method. The cylinders are constrained to oscillate in the cross-flow direction with a center-to-center spacing ratio $T/D$ ranging from 2 to 5. The structural damping is set to zero to enable large vibration amplitudes in the range of reduced velocity $U_r=3-10$. It is found that the proximity of the cylinders does not have a significant impact to the lock-in region and cylinder responses, except at a small spacing ratio of $T/D=2$. The critical spacing ratio is determined as $T/D=4$ and beyond that the interaction between the cylinders is negligible. The following six near-wake patterns are observed; the irregular pattern, in-phase flip-flopping pattern, out-of-phase flip-flopping pattern, in-phase-synchronized pattern, antiphase-synchronized pattern and the biased antiphase-synchronized pattern. These patterns are plotted in a plane of $U_r$ and $T/D$, together with approximate borderlines to distinguish one region from the others. The time histories, spectral features and wavelet transform contours of drag and lift forces are presented to elucidate the mechanisms of the in-phase and out-of-phase flip-flopping phenomena. It is established that the in-phase flip-flopping stems from the long-short near-wake pattern and its low-frequency flip-over, whereas the out-of-phase pattern originates from the large vortex shedding from the fictitious bluff-body with an augmented characteristic length.     

Experiment on smooth,circular cylinders in cross-flow in the critical Reynolds number regime

Experiments were conducted for 2D circular cylinders at Reynolds numbers in the range of 1.73 × 10⁵–5.86 × 10⁵. In the experiment, two circular cylinder models made of acrylic and stainless steel, respectively, were employed, which have similar dimensions but different surface roughness. Particular attention was paid to the unsteady flow behaviors inferred by the signals obtained from the pressure taps on the cylinder models and by a hot-wire probe in the near-wake region. At Reynolds numbers pertaining to the initial transition from the subcritical to the critical regimes, pronounced pressure fluctuations were measured on the surfaces of both cylinder models, which were attributed to the excursion of unsteady flow separation over a large circumferential region. At the Reynolds numbers almost reaching the one-bubble state, it was noted that the development of separation bubble might switch from one side to the other with time. Wavelet analysis of the pressure signals measured simultaneously at θ = ±90° further revealed that when no separation bubble was developed, the instantaneous vortex-shedding frequencies could be clearly resolved, about 0.2, in terms of the Strouhal number. The results of oil-film flow visualization on the stainless steel cylinder of the one-bubble and two-bubble states showed that the flow reattachment region downstream of a separation bubble appeared not uniform along the span of the model. Thus, the three dimensionality was quite evident.     

The control of vortex shedding behind heated circular cylinders at low Reynolds numbers

We report some experiments undertaken to investigate the control of vortex shedding behind electrically heated cylinders at low Reynolds numbers owing to the heat input brought to the cylinder. In airflow, depending on the Reynolds number value, complete suppression or modification of the vortex shedding phenomenon can be achieved with increase of heat input. Experimental results suggest that this control could result of a slight change of the separation point location due to the increase of the dynamic viscosity of the fluid.     

Three-dimensional structure of ordered and chaotic vortex streets behind circular cylinders at low Reynolds numbers

We have investigated the spatial and temporal structure of certain cases of chaotic and organized vortex shedding in self-excited cylinder wakes at low Reynolds number (40–200) by extending hot-wire measurements to much larger downstream locations than our earlier measurements (Van Atta and Gharib, 1987) and performing concurrent smoke-wire flow visualizations. We describe here results for two cases in which chaotic vortex shedding is observed. The first is the single-vibration frequency locked-in case, in which the most highly disturbed regions of the vortex street, which produce chaotic spectra, are confined to compact spanwise-periodic propagating disturbed regions. The second is the multiple-vibration frequency case in which chaotic velocity spectra are observed at all spanwise locations.     

Some new characteristics of the confined flow over circular cylinders at low reynolds numbers

This study summarises some new characteristics of the fluid flow over a confined circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers. Results from both two- and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations are presented at blockage ratio between 0.1 and 0.9 and Reynolds number between 120 and 500. Floquet stability analysis of selected cases will also be presented. From the two-dimensional simulations, it is found that the fluctuating lift forces decreases with blockage ratio and becomes zero (where the flow is steady) at blockage ratio of approximately 0.7–0.8. Upon further increasing the blockage ratio to 0.9, the simulations show a dramatic increase in the fluctuating lift forces, nearly an order of magnitude greater than previously reported for an unconfined cylinder flow. It is also found that for blockage ratio of 0.5, there is a long term two-dimensional instability that becomes more prominent with increasing Reynolds number. This instability has a time scale of approximately 105 time units ($D/U_{\mathit{max}}$) at Reynolds number of 500. In addition, the transition between two- and three-dimensional flow at blockage ratios up to 0.5 is investigated. It is shown that the transition Reynolds number decreases with increasing blockage ratio. At high blockage ratio of 0.5, as we increase the Reynolds number, the transition to three-dimensional flow is shown to go from unsteady two-dimensional to steady three-dimensional before transitioning to unsteady three-dimensional flow.     

Fluid-elastic instability in tube arrays subjected to air-water and steam-water cross-flow

Flow induced vibrations in heat exchanger tubes have led to numerous accidents and economic losses in the past. Efforts have been made to systematically study the cause of these vibrations and develop remedial design criteria for their avoidance. In this research, experiments were systematically carried out with air-water and steam-water cross-flow over horizontal tubes. A normal square tube array of pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.4 was used in the experiments. The tubes were suspended from piano wires and strain gauges were used to measure the vibrations. Tubes made of aluminum; stainless steel and brass were systematically tested by maintaining approximately the same stiffness in the tube-wire systems. Instability was clearly seen in single phase and two-phase flow and the critical flow velocity was found to be proportional to tube mass. The present study shows that fully flexible arrays become unstable at a lower flow velocity when compared to a single flexible tube surrounded by rigid tubes. It is also found that tubes are more stable in steam-water flow as compared to air-water flow. Nucleate boiling on the tube surface is also found to have a stabilizing effect on fluid-elastic instability.     

Flow/acoustic interactions of two cylinders in cross-flow

The noise generated by two tandem cylinders in a cross-flow (i.e., with the second in the wake of the first) has been investigated. Measurements of turbulence and of fluctuating pressure have been obtained between the two cylinders for different flow velocities and incident levels of turbulence. Although, for a number of cases, up to four peaks related to vortex shedding were evident in the spectrum, most measurements exhibited two peaks, a dominant one at the vortex-shedding frequency, with a secondary peak at twice this value. The measurements show that vortex generated noise is strongest at the mid-point between the cylinders and at the rear cylinder with levels of 130 dB. The harmonic component was strongest at the downstream cylinder where peak values of 110 dB were obtained. The nonlinear flow/acoustic interactions are examined using bispectral analysis to identify the quadratic interactions in the parameters. A novel quadratic modelling method is proposed and shown to be capable of both identifying and quantifying the nonlinear interactions which give rise to noise at harmonics of the vortex-shedding frequency.     

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.     

Inelastic behavior of thick-walled cylinders subjected to nonproportionate loading

Inelastic behavior of thick-walled cylinders subjected to nonproportionate loading was studied by the testing of specimens made of C1045 steel and of annealed copper. Several theories were reviewed. A closed-form solution proposed by Mendelson¹² was used to predict external strains for open-end and closed-end thick-walled cylinders. An incremental theory proposed by Chu¹³ was used to provide incremental solutions for open-end thick-walled cylinders, and for cylinders subjected to nonproportionate loading. Test data for open-end and closed-end thick-walled cylinders made of C1045 steel and of annealed copper were in excellent agreement with the incremental theory. Larger values were predicted by use of the closed-form solution for circumferential strains than actual test data for open-end thick-walled cylinders at large depth of yielding. For cylinders subjected to nonproportionate loading, excellent agreement was indicated between the incremental theory and the experiments for the plot of axial load vs. circumferential strain for specimens made of both metals. Agreement between the incremental theory prediction of axial strains for the specimens made of annealed copper and test data is quite satisfactory. Larger values were predicted by the incremental theory for axial strain than experimental data for specimens made of C1045 steel. The error was conservative.     

Torsion of circular cylinders containing η circular holes

In the present paper by using complex variable methods in linear elasticity and by means of analytic continuation, the author obtains for this problem a complex torsional function, shear stress components, displacement components,the torsional rigidity and shear stresses on boundaries expressed in terms of series.