Wake flow pattern modified by small control cylinders at low Reynolds number

Passive wake control behind a circular cylinder in uniform flow is studied by numerical simulation for Re_D ranging from 80 to 300. Two small control cylinders, with diameter d/D=1/8, are placed at x/D=0.5 and y/D=±0.6. Unlike the 1990 results of Strykowski and Sreenivasan, in the present study, the vortex street behind the main cylinder still exists but the fluctuating lift and the form drag on the main cylinder reduces significantly and monotonously as the Reynolds number increases from 80 to 300. Obstruction of the control cylinders to the incoming flow deflects part of the fluid to pass through the gap between the main and control cylinders, forming two symmetric streams. These streams not only eliminate the flow separation along the rear surface of the main cylinder, they also merge toward the wake centerline to create an advancing momentum in the immediate near-wake region. These two effects significantly reduce the wake width behind the main cylinder and lead to monotonous decrease of the form drag as the Reynolds number increases. As the Reynolds number gets higher, a large amount of the downstream advancing momentum significantly delays the vortex formation farther downstream, leading to a more symmetric flow structure in the near-wake region of the main cylinder. As the Reynolds number increases from 80 to 300, both increasing symmetry of the flow structure in the near-wake and significant delay of the vortex formation are the main reasons for the fluctuating lift to decrease monotonously.     

Electromagnetic control of seawater flow around circular cylinders

We investigate numerically the electromagnetic control of seawater flows over an infinitely long circular cylinder. Stripes of electrodes and magnets, wrapped around the cylinder surface, produce a tangential body force (Lorentz force) that stabilizes the flow. This mechanism delays flow separation, reduces drag and lift, and finally suppresses the von Kármán vortex street. Results from two-dimensional simulations of the Navier–Stokes equations in a range 10<Re<300 and Lorentz force calculations are presented. Emphasis is placed on the disclosure of physical phenomena as well as a quantitative detection of the flow field and forces. It is shown that the drag strongly depends on the geometry of the electromagnetic actuator and on its location at the cylinder surface. The effect of flow control increases with larger Reynolds numbers, since the boundary layer thickness and the penetration depth of the Lorentz force are closely connected.     

Effect of magnetic Reynolds number on the two‐dimensional hydromagnetic flow around a cylinder

Numerical experiments have been conducted to study the effect of magnetic Reynolds number on the steady, two‐dimensional, viscous, incompressible and electrically conducting flow around a circular cylinder. Besides usual Reynolds number Re, the flow is governed by the magnetic Reynolds number R_m and Alfvén number β. The flow and magnetic field are uniform and parallel at large distances from the cylinder. The pressure Poisson equation is solved to find the pressure fields in the entire flow region. The effects of the magnetic field and electrical conductivity on the recirculation bubble, drag coefficient, standing vortex and pressure are presented and discussed. For low interaction parameter (N<1), the suppression of the flow‐separation is nearly independent of the conductivity of the fluid, whereas for large interaction parameters, the conductivity of the fluid strongly influences the control of flow‐separation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Laminar flow of power-law fluids past a rotating cylinder

In this work, the continuity and momentum equations have been solved numerically to investigate the flow of power-law fluids over a rotating cylinder. In particular, consideration has been given to the prediction of drag and lift coefficients as functions of the pertinent governing dimensionless parameters, namely, power-law index (1 ≥ n ≥ 0.2), dimensionless rotational velocity (0 ≤ α ≤ 6) and the Reynolds number (0.1 ≤ Re ≤ 40). Over the range of Reynolds number, the flow is known to be steady. Detailed streamline and vorticity contours adjacent to the rotating cylinder and surface pressure profiles provide further insights into the nature of flow. Finally, the paper is concluded by comparing the present numerical results with the scant experimental data on velocity profiles in the vicinity of a rotating cylinder available in the literature. The correspondence is seen to be excellent for Newtonian and inelastic fluids.     

Effects of a trapped vortex cell on a thick wing airfoil

The effects of a trapped vortex cell (TVC) on the aerodynamic performance of a NACA0024 wing model were investigated experimentally at Re = 10⁶ and 6.67×10⁵6.67\times 10^{5}. The static pressure distributions around the model and the wake velocity profiles were measured to obtain lift and drag coefficients, for both the clean airfoil and the controlled configurations. Suction was applied in the cavity region to stabilize the trapped vortex. For comparison, a classical boundary layer suction configuration was also tested. The drag coefficient curve of the TVC-controlled airfoil showed sharp discontinuities and bifurcative behavior, generating two drag modes. A strong influence of the angle of attack, the suction rate and the Reynolds number on the drag coefficient was observed. With respect to the clean airfoil, the control led to a drag reduction only if the suction was high enough. Compared to the classical boundary layer suction configuration, the drag reduction was higher for the same amount of suction only in a specific range of incidence, i.e., α = −2° to α = 6° and only for the higher Reynolds number. For all the other conditions, the classical boundary layer suction configuration gave better drag performances. Moderate increments of lift were observed for the TVC-controlled airfoil at low incidence, while a 20% lift enhancement was observed in the stall region with respect to the baseline. However, the same lift increments were also observed for the classical boundary layer suction configuration. Pressure fluctuation measurements in the cavity region suggested a very complex interaction of several flow features. The two drag modes were characterized by typical unsteady phenomena observed in rectangular cavity flows, namely the shear layer mode and the wake mode.     

Direct numerical simulation of a NACA0012 in full stall

This work aims at investigating the mechanisms of separation and the transition to turbulence in the separated shear-layer of aerodynamic profiles, while at the same time to gain insight into coherent structures formed in the separated zone at low-to-moderate Reynolds numbers. To do this, direct numerical simulations of the flow past a NACA0012 airfoil at Reynolds numbers Re = 50,000 (based on the free-stream velocity and the airfoil chord) and angles of attack AOA = 9.25° and AOA = 12° have been carried out. At low-to-moderate Reynolds numbers, NACA0012 exhibits a combination of leading-edge/trailing-edge stall which causes the massive separation of the flow on the suction side of the airfoil. The initially laminar shear layer undergoes transition to turbulence and vortices formed are shed forming a von Kármán like vortex street in the airfoil wake. The main characteristics of this flow together with its main features, including power spectra of a set of selected monitoring probes at different positions on the suction side and in the wake of the airfoil are provided and discussed in detail.     

Effect of self-issuing jets along the span on the near-wake of a square cylinder

The study herein focuses on the vortex shedding characteristics and near-wake vorticity patterns of a square cylinder having self-issuing jets through holes along its span. Three different values of spacing between the consecutive holes λ with respect to the cylinder diameter D, i.e., λ/D = 1.5, 3 and 4 are studied experimentally via Digital Particle Image Velocimetry for the Reynolds number range extending from 200 to 1,000. It has been observed that the three-dimensionality of the wake flow depends on the spacing between the holes and Re number. For sufficiently low Reynolds numbers, the jet flows issuing from the holes yield a non-uniform distribution of mean flow characteristics like the shedding frequency and the formation length of vortices along the span of the cylinder when the spacing between jets along centerline is close to wavelength of the naturally existing three-dimensional wake instability. Additionally, for Re number up to 500, the self-issuing jets emanating from the holes show an indirect interaction with shear layers originating from upper and lower separation lines of the cylinder. However, for higher Re numbers of 750 and 1,000, they directly interact with and modify the vortices forming from the cylinder.     

Flow around a porous cylinder subject to continuous suction or blowing

In the present experimental investigation the surface pressure distribution, vortex shedding frequency, and the wake flow behind a porous circular cylinder are studied when continuous suction or blowing is applied through the cylinder walls. It is found that even moderate levels of suction/blowing (5% of the oncoming streamwise velocity) have a large impact on the flow around the cylinder. Suction delays separation contributing to a narrower wake width, and a corresponding reduction of drag, whereas blowing shows the opposite behaviour. Both uniform suction and blowing display unexpected flow features which are analysed in detail. Suction shows a decrease of the turbulence intensity throughout the whole wake when compared with the natural case, whilst blowing only shows an effect up to five diameters downstream of the cylinder. The drag on the cylinder is shown to increase linearly with the blowing rate, whereas for suction there is a drastic decrease at a specific suction rate. This is shown to be an effect of the separation point moving towards the rear part of the cylinder, similar to what happens when transition to turbulence occurs in the boundary layer on a solid cylinder. The suction/blowing rate can empirically be represented by an effective Reynolds number for the solid cylinder, and an analytical expression for this Reynolds number representation is proposed and verified. Flow visualizations expose the complexity of the flow field in the near wake of the cylinder, and image averaging enables the retrieval of quantitative information, such as the vortex formation length.     

Flow past a square cylinder at low Reynolds numbers

Results are presented for the flow past a stationary square cylinder at zero incidence for Reynolds number, Re ? 150. A stabilized finite‐element formulation is employed to discretize the equations of incompressible fluid flow in two‐dimensions. For the first time, values of the laminar separation Reynolds number, Re_s, and separation angle, θ_s, at Re_s are predicted. Also, the variation of θ_s with Re is presented. It is found that the steady separation initiates at Re = 1.15. Contrary to the popular belief that separation originates at the rear sharp corners, it is found to originate from the base point, i.e. θ_s=180^° at Re = Re_s. For Re > 5, θ_s approaches the limit of 135 ^°. The length of the separation bubble increases approximately linearly with increasing Re. The drag coefficient varies as Re^?0.66. Flow characteristics at Re ? 40 are also presented for elliptical cylinders of aspect ratios 0.2, 0.5, 0.8 and 1 (circle) having the same characteristic dimension as the square and major axis oriented normal to the free‐stream. Compared with a circular cylinder, the flow separates at a much lower Re from a square cylinder leading to the formation of a bigger wake (larger bubble length and width). Consequently, at a given Re, the drag on a square cylinder is more than the drag of a circular cylinder. This suggests that a cylinder with square section is more bluff than the one with circular section. Among all the cylinder shapes studied, the square cylinder with sharp corners generates the largest amount of drag. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contrôle par rotation ou par aspiration de l'écoulement autour d'un cylindre calculé par Simulation des Grandes Échelles

Control of the flow around a circular cylinder is studied using Large Eddy Simulation. The influence of control by rotation and suction on the flow characteristics is considered for several Reynolds numbers. Comparisons with experiments were conducted at $\mathit{Re}={10}^5$ for the flow with and without control. A drag reduction up to 30% is obtained for an usual suction intensity. To cite this article: G. Fournier et al., C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).     

Induced parallel vortex shedding from a circular cylinder at Re of O(10) by using the cylinder end suction technique

In the present work, the objective is to attempt to induce parallel vortex shedding at a moderately high Reynolds number (=1.578 × 10⁴) by using the cylinder end suction method, and measure the associated aerodynamic parameters.We first measured the aerodynamic parameters of a single circular cylinder without end suction, and showed that the quantities measured are in good agreement with equivalent data in the published literature. Next, by using different amount of end suction which resulted in increasing the cylinder end velocity by 1%, 2% and 2.5%, we were able to show that the above corresponded to the situation of under suction, optimal suction and over suction, respectively. With optimal suction, we demonstrated that the end suction method works at Re = 1.578 × 10⁴. The shape of the primary vortex shed became straighter than when there is no end suction, and parameters like cylinder surface pressure distribution, drag force per unit span, as well as vortex shedding frequency all showed negligible spanwise variation. Further careful analyses showed that when compared to the naturally existing curved vortex shedding, with parallel vortex shedding the mid-span drag per unit span became slightly smaller, but the drag averaged over the cylinder span became slightly larger. For cylinder surface pressure, it was found that cylinder end effects mainly influenced the surface pressure in the angular ranges −180°  β < −60° and 60° < β  180°. Without end suction, the cylinder surface pressure in the above ranges was found to increase (become less negative) slightly with |z/d|, but such increase disappeared when optimal end suction was applied, and the cylinder surface pressure distribution became spanwise location independent. As for the vortex shedding frequency (Strouhal number), although the Strouhal number showed spanwise variation when there is no end suction and negligible spanwise variation when optimal suction was applied, the difference between the spanwise averaged Strouhal number was quite negligible. With under suction, the spanwise dependence of various aerodynamic parameters existed, but was found to be not as significant as when no end suction was applied at all. With over suction, the flow situation was found to be practically no change from the optimal suction situation.     

Forced convection flow over a microsphere

Forced convection heat transfer characteristics around a microsphere subjected to uniform heat flux boundary condition is numerically investigated in this study. Moderate to high values of Reynolds number and a wide range of Prandtl number are considered. The analysis assumes that the continuity assumption is valid and hence the Navier–Stokes equations are solved for the range of Knudsen number of 0.001 ≤ Kn ≤ 0.1. The appropriate boundary conditions at the surface of the microsphere; the velocity slip and temperature jump are applied. The effect of the flow parameters: Re, Pr and Kn on the velocity and temperature distribution is presented and hence a better control on the boundary layer thickness can be achieved in the microscale level. Furthermore, the effect of the controlling parameters on the delay of flow separation, reduced shear stress, drag coefficient and on the Nusselt number profiles is also presented in the results.     

An active flow control strategy for the suppression of vortex structures behind a circular cylinder

An algorithm is proposed to model, predict and control vortex shedding behind a circular cylindrical configuration. The main ingredients of the algorithm include multiple-feedback sensors, actuators (with zero net mass injection) and a control strategy. Along with the mass and momentum conservation equations, a control equation is implemented to enable the desired flow control goals. A number of sensors are chosen in the downstream of the body to report the state of the flow. The role of externally controllable actuators on the fluid flow patterns past a circular configuration is assessed. To enable, zero net mass injection, two simple rotary type mechanical actuators are located at 120°, right behind the main cylinder. The popular finite volume based SIMPLE scheme is employed for the numerical calculations. As a precursor, the scheme simulates flow past an isolated cylinder, which is validated over a moderate range of Reynolds numbers. The design parameters of interest such as Strouhal number, drag and lift coefficients etc are used for the purpose of validation. The simulated flow fields are compared against the flow visualization study, which clearly demonstrates the efficacy of the actuators at discrete levels of rotation. The basic character of the flow is completely modified at U_c/U_∞ = 2.0 and Re = 100, where a complete suppression of vortex shedding is observed. This is tantamount to complete control of all the global instability modes. Fictitious tracer particles are released to visualize the vortex structures in the form of streaklines. The results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of a rather simple active control algorithm in suppressing the vortex structures. All the relevant fluid flow features of the bluff-body fluid mechanics under the influence of actuators are studied in the sub-critical Reynolds number range of Re = 100–300.     

Aerodynamic characteristics of a square cylinder with a rod in a staggered arrangement

The aerodynamic characteristics of a square cylinder with an upstream rod in a staggered arrangement were examined. The pressure measurement was conducted in a wind tunnel at a Reynolds number of Re_D=82,000 (based on the width of the square cylinder) and the flow visualization was carried out in a water tunnel with the hydrogen bubble technique at Re_D=5,200. When the rod and the square cylinder were in tandem, the reduction of drag was mainly caused by the increase of the rear suction pressure. When the staggered angle was introduced, the shield and disturbance effect of the rod on the square cylinder diminished, which results in the increase of the cylinder drag. The side force induced by the staggered angle is small (the maximum value is 20% of the drag of the isolate square cylinder). There were six different flow modes with various staggered angles and spacing ratios, and the corresponding flow patterns are presented in present paper.     

An experimental study on the effects of uniform injection through one perforated surface of a square cylinder on some aerodynamic parameters

It is well known that injection/suction (transpiration) through a perforated surface is an efficient way of influencing the characteristics of a turbulent boundary layer. Injection application creates a thicker boundary layer on a flat plate and it thus decreases drag. In aeronautical applications, suction is frequently used to delay boundary layer separation. This paper presents an experimental study on the effects of uniform injection through one perforated surface of a square cylinder on the pressure distribution and drag coefficient in a two-dimensional turbulent flow. For this purpose, surface pressure measurements around a square cylinder have been performed at three different Reynolds numbers in a wind tunnel. The parameters taken into account were injection rate, position of perforated surface (i.e., front, top, and rear), and pressure coefficient and drag coefficient. The results show that variation in pressure coefficient around the square cylinder and drag coefficient were influenced by the position of perforated surface and by injection rate.     

Separated flow structures around a cylindrical obstacle in a narrow channel

A detailed experimental study is performed on the separated flow structures around a low aspect-ratio circular cylinder (pin-fin) in a practical configuration of liquid cooling channel. Distinctive features of the present arrangement are the confinement of the cylinder at both ends, water flow at low Reynolds numbers (Re = 800, 1800, 2800), very high core flow turbulence and undeveloped boundary layers at the position of the obstacle. The horseshoe vortex system at the junctions between the cylinder and the confining walls and the near wake region behind the obstacle are deeply investigated by means of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Upstream of the cylinder, the horseshoe vortex system turns out to be perturbed by vorticity bursts from the incoming boundary layers, leading to aperiodical vortex oscillations at Re = 800 or to break-away and secondary vorticity eruptions at the higher Reynolds numbers. The flow structures in the near wake show a complex three-dimensional behaviour associated with a peculiar mechanism of spanwise mass transport. High levels of free-stream turbulence trigger an early instabilization of the shear layers and strong Bloor–Gerrard vortices are observed even at Re = 800. Coalescence of these vortices and intense spanwise flow inhibit the alternate primary vortex shedding for time periods whose length and frequency increase as the Reynolds number is reduced. The inhibition of alternate vortex shedding for long time periods is finally related to the very large wake characteristic lengths and to the low velocity fluctuations observed especially at the lowest Reynolds number.     

Flow past a cylinder: shear layer instability and drag crisis

Flow past a circular cylinder for Re=100 to 10⁷ is studied numerically by solving the unsteady incompressible two‐dimensional Navier–Stokes equations via a stabilized finite element formulation. It is well known that beyond Re ～ 200 the flow develops significant three‐dimensional features. Therefore, two‐dimensional computations are expected to fall well short of predicting the flow accurately at high Re. It is fairly well accepted that the shear layer instability is primarily a two‐dimensional phenomenon. The frequency of the shear layer vortices, from the present computations, agree quite well with the Re^0.67 variation observed by other researchers from experimental measurements. The main objective of this paper is to investigate a possible relationship between the drag crisis (sudden loss of drag at Re ～ 2 × 10⁵) and the instability of the separated shear layer. As Re is increased the transition point of shear layer, beyond which it is unstable, moves upstream. At the critical Reynolds number the transition point is located very close to the point of flow separation. As a result, the shear layer eddies cause mixing of the flow in the boundary layer. This energizes the boundary layer and leads to its reattachment. The delay in flow separation is associated with narrowing of wake, increase in Reynolds shear stress near the shoulder of the cylinder and a significant reduction in the drag and base suction coefficients. The spatial and temporal power spectra for the kinetic energy of the Re=10⁶ flow are computed. As in two‐dimensional isotropic turbulence, E(k) varies as k^?5/3 for wavenumbers higher than energy injection scale and as k^?3 for lower wavenumbers. The present computations suggest that the shear layer vortices play a major role in the transition of boundary layer from laminar to turbulent state. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of inlet shear on the 3-D flow past a square cylinder at moderate Reynolds number

Unsteady three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulations of linear shear flow past a square cylinder at moderate Reynolds number (Re=200) are performed. The shear parameter (K) considered in this study is varied as 0.0, 0.1, and 0.2. For the uniform flow (K=0.0) case, the chosen Re falls in the transition Reynolds number range. The low frequency force pulsations of square cylinder transition phenomena are observed to decrease with increasing shear parameter. The evolution of streamwise vortical structures indicates a mode A spanwise instability in the uniform flow. Unlike in uniform flow, mixed mode A and mode B spanwise instability is observed in the case of a shear flow. The autocorrelation function of the lift and the drag coefficients is improved for any particular separation distance with increasing K.     

Drag reduction using surfactants in a rotating cylinder geometry

Turbulent Couette flow between two circular cylinders has been used for drag reduction experiments using surfactants. In the experiments presented here, only the outer cylinder rotates, the inner cylinder remains at rest and accurate measurements of the torque at the inner cylinder are measured. Water is used as a reference fluid. A drag reducing surfactant called Arquad S-50 (Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry LLC, Chicago, Ill., USA) (5 mM)+NaSal (12.5 mM) was used as the drag reduction agent. This surfactant can reduce the drag up to 70% (a Reynolds number of about 70,000–150,000) as measured by pressure drop in a pipe flow. Experiments in Couette flow also show drag reduction in the turbulent range. Two arrangements were used, (1) one small trip-wire on the inner cylinder, and (2) four larger trip-wires on the outer cylinder. These trips reduce the critical Reynolds number for transition from laminar to turbulent flow. In case (1), we obtained 18% drag reduction at 5,000<Re<15,000 and in case (2), we obtained an average reduction of about 20% at 2,000<Re<10,000, increasing up to 30% at Re=15,000. The paper also discusses two important problems. First, the shear rate is not constant in the radial gap in circular Couette flow. For non-Newtonian fluids, where the molecular viscosity is a function of the shear rate, this effect must be considered. Second, which viscosity should be used in the Reynolds number? For pipe flow measurements, most authors use the viscosity of the solvent (generally water and Newtonian). For measurements in the Couette flow, we use a different approach, which is described in this paper. We conclude that Couette flow is a useful method for drag reduction investigations. Its advantage is the much smaller geometry in comparison to those of conventional test facilities such as wind tunnels, water, or oil channels or in tubes.     

Passive control of wake flow by two small control cylinders at Reynolds number 80

Passive control of the wake behind a circular cylinder in uniform flow is studied by numerical simulation at Re_D=80. Two small control cylinders are placed symmetrically along the separating shear layers at various stream locations. In the present study, the detailed flow mechanisms that lead to a significant reduction in the fluctuating lift but maintain the shedding vortex street are clearly revealed. When the stream locations lie within 0.8≤X_C/D≤3.0, the alternate shedding vortex street remains behind the control cylinders. In this case, the symmetric standing eddies immediately behind the main cylinder and the downstream delay of the shedding vortex street are the two primary mechanisms that lead to a 70–80% reduction of the fluctuating lift on the main cylinder. Furthermore, the total drag of all the cylinders still has a maximum 5% reduction. This benefit is primarily attributed to the significant reduction of the pressure drag on the main cylinder. Within X_C/D>3.0, the symmetry of the standing eddy breaks down and the staggered vortex street is similar to that behind a single cylinder at the same Reynolds number. In the latter case, the mean pressure drag and the fluctuating lift coefficients on the main cylinder will recover to the values of a single cylinder.