Suppression of vortex-induced vibration of a circular cylinder using suction-based flow control

In the present study, a flow control method is employed to mitigate vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a circular cylinder by using a suction flow method. The VIV of a circular cylinder was first reproduced in a wind tunnel by using a spring–mass system. The time evolution of the cylinder oscillation and the time histograms of the surface pressures of 119 taps in four sections of the circular cylinder model were measured during the wind tunnel experiments. Four steady suction flow rates were used to investigate the effectiveness of the suction control method to suppress VIV of the circular cylinder. The vibration responses, the mean and fluctuating pressure coefficients, and the resultant aerodynamic force coefficients of the circular cylinder under the suction flow control are analyzed. The measurement results indicate clearly that the steady suction flow control method exhibits excellent control effectiveness and can distinctly suppress the VIV by dramatically reducing the amplitudes of cylinder vibrations, fluctuating pressure coefficients and lift coefficients of the circular cylinder model. By comparing the test cases with different suction flow rates, it is found that there exists an optimal suction flow rate for the maximum VIV control. The cases with higher suction flow rates do not necessarily behave better than those with lower suction flow rates. With the experimental setting used in the present study, the suction flow control method is found to behave better for VIV suppression when the ratio of the suction flow velocity to the oncoming flow velocity is less than one.     

Flow control of hub corner stall in a highly loaded axial compressor cascade

Three-dimensional corner stall is one of the key factors limiting the compressor performance. This paper presents a detailed experimental and computational study of a flow control strategy involving the endwall suction, aiming to eliminate the hub corner stall in a highly loaded axial compressor cascade. Various mass flow suction cases were parametrically tested with the aim of eliminating the corner stall by applying a minimum suction flow ratio. In the experiments, seven-hole pressure probe traverses, different loading distributions and surface oil flow visualizations were applied to address the flow and loss mechanisms in the cascade. Measurements were supplemented with numerical predictions from a commercially available CFD code. It was found that the corner stall, characterized by a large amount of reversed fluid, occupied a large region over the blade suction surface in the highly loaded compressor airfoil, rather than occurring at the junction of a blade suction surface and the endwall as in the conventionally loaded compressor airfoil. By applying flow control, the dominant flow structures, e.g. the flow separations and particularly the corner stall, within the compressor cascade were significantly affected. The maximum spanwise penetration depth of the endwall flow on the suction surface was significantly decreased once the endwall suction flow was applied. Furthermore, the corner stall was completely eliminated by suctioning the mass flow at a specific ratio of the inlet boundary layer flow rate. The midspan flow field was not notably affected, and a further increase in suction mass flow did not benefit the flow field approaching the endwall.     

Large eddy simulation of separation control over a backward-facing step flow by suction

Separation control over a backward-facing step (BFS) flow by continuous suction was numerically investigated using the turbulence model of large eddy simulation (LES). The effect of suction control on the flow fields was scrutinised by altering the suction flow coefficient, and the results indicate that suction is not only very effective in shortening the reattachment length but also very influential in reducing the tangential velocity gradient and turbulence fluctuations of the reattached flows. With increasing increments of the absolute suction flow coefficient, the effect of suction control is more significant. Furthermore, the detailed flow fields (including the time-averaged stream and velocity fields) and turbulence characteristics (including the time-averaged resolved kinetic energy and RMS velocity) for the BFS models with or without suction are presented to discuss the mechanism of suction control. Comparisons of the time-averaged statistics between the numerical simulations and corresponding experiments are conducted, and it shows that the LES based on the dynamic kinetic energy subgrid-scale model (DKEM) can acquire exact results. Therefore, feasibility of the numerical methods to simulate suction-controlled models is validated.     

低雷诺数下附面层组合抽吸方案对压气机特性影响的研究

为了分析附面层抽吸流动控制对低雷诺数下压气机特性的影响,本文采用数值方法模拟了低雷诺数下附面层组合抽吸方案对NASA Rotor 37跨音速压气机性能和稳定性的影响特点及作用机理。通过在该压气机转子叶片吸力面和机匣上分别设计附面层抽吸槽,探讨了组合抽吸方案对低雷诺数下(H=20km)压气机性能和稳定性的影响。结果表明:采用组合抽吸方案后,压气机峰值效率提高约1.3%;压气机最大增压比提高约2.5%;压气机转子的近失速点流量减小约14.6%。进一步分析作用机理发现,组合抽吸槽有效抑制了附面层径向涡向叶顶的运动和聚集,使叶顶附面层分离区减少约70%从而有效改善了压气机的流场特性。     

Numerical investigation of steady suction control of flow around a circular cylinder

This paper numerically investigates the effectiveness of the control of steady suction on a stationary circular cylinder with several isolated suction holes on the surface at a subcritical Reynolds number. The control effectiveness as a function of the azimuthal position, spanwise spacing and suction flow rate of the suction holes on the control of the aerodynamic forces on the cylinder and the suppression of alternate vortex shedding are taken into account. The study of the azimuthal location of the suction holes indicates that azimuthal angles of θ=90° and 270°, which are close to the separation point, provide the most substantial decreases in the aerodynamic forces. When restricted to the most effective azimuthal angle, a remarkable control effectiveness can be achieved when the axial spacing between two neighboring suction holes is less than a minimum value even under a small suction momentum coefficient. However, if the axial spacing exceeds the minimum spacing, the control effectiveness will not be saturated even under a very large suction momentum coefficient. Thus, the cause of the effective aerodynamic force control is suggested to be a result of obvious three-dimensional phenomenon in the near wake, which is characterized by the generation of a convergent flow between two neighboring suction hole sections and a stronger, larger three-dimensional vortex pair adjacent to the convergent flow. It has been suggested that this strongly three-dimensional flow pattern is induced by the strong interaction between two neighboring but counter-rotating three-dimensional vortices separately produced by two neighboring suction holes. Moreover, the effects of such three-dimensional flow patterns are investigated in detail based on variations in the flow field and sectional aerodynamic forces in different cross sections. Finally, the upper limit of the axial spacing between two neighboring suction holes to form such a three-dimensional flow pattern is suggested to be between 0.75 D and 1.5 D when the suction flow rate exceeds a certain value.     

Behaviour of a shock train under the influence of boundary-layer suction by a normal slot

The interaction of a shock train with a normal suction slot is presented. It was found that when the pressure in the suction slot is smaller or equal to the static pressure of the incoming supersonic flow, the pressure gradient across the primary shock is sufficient to push some part of the near wall boundary layer through the suction slot. Due to the suction stabilized primary shock foot, the back pressure of the shock train can be increased until the shock train gradually changes into a single normal shock. During the experiments, the total pressure and therewith the Reynolds number of the flow were varied. The structure and pressure recovery within the shock train is analysed by means of Schlieren images and wall pressure measurements. Because the boundary layer is most important for the formation of a shock train, it has been measured by a Pitot probe. Additionally, computational fluid dynamics is used to investigate the shock boundary-layer interaction. Based on the experimental and numerical results, a simplified flow model is derived which explains the phenomenology of the transition of a shock train into a single shock and derives distinct criteria to maintain a suction enhanced normal shock. This flow model also yields the required suction mass flow in order to obtain a single normal shock in a viscous nozzle flow. Furthermore, it allows computation of the total pressure losses across a normal shock under the influence of boundary-layer suction.     

Experimental study of the effects of spanwise rotation on the flow in a low aspect ratio diffuser for turbomachinery applications

Two dimensional time accurate PIV measurements of the flow between pressure and suction side at different spanwise positions of a rotating channel are presented. The Reynolds and Rotation numbers are representative for the flow in radial impellers of micro gas turbines. Superposition of the 2D results at the different spanwise positions provides a quasi-3D view of the flow and illustrates the impact of Coriolis forces on the 3D flow structure. It is shown that the inlet flow is little affected by rotation. An increasing/decreasing boundary layer thickness is reported on the suction/pressure side wall halfway between the channel inlet and outlet. The turbulence intensity moves away from the suction side wall and remains close to the pressure side wall. The instantaneous measurements at mid-height of the rotating channel reveal the presence of hairpin vortices in the pressure side boundary layer and symmetric vortices near the suction side. Hairpin vortices occur in rotation in the pressure and in the suction side, for the measurement plane close to the channel bottom wall.     

Near-field measurements and development of a new boundary layer over a flat plate with localized suction

Suction on a turbulent boundary layer is applied through a narrow strip in order to understand the effects suction can have on the boundary layer development and turbulent structures in the flow. Detailed two-component laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) based measurements have been undertaken in regions close to the suction strip and further downstream. The region close to the strip involves a flow reversal accompanied by a change in sign for the Reynolds shear stress and strong gradients in the flow variables. The mean streamwise velocity after suction remains larger than its corresponding no-suction value. Relative to the no-suction case, the velocity fluctuations first decrease with suction followed by a slow recovery which may involve a slight overshoot. LIF visualizations indicate that compared to the no-suction case, the low-speeds streaks stay closer to the wall and exhibit a smaller amount of spanwise and wall-normal oscillations with suction. The visualization results are consistent with two-point velocity correlation measurements. The streamwise and spanwise correlation measurements indicate that the structures are disrupted or removed from the boundary layer due to suction suggesting that the original boundary layer has been strongly influenced by suction. The results are explained by the development of a new inner layer that forms downstream of the suction strip.     

Flow through a porous annulus

Summary The problem of laminar flow through a porous annulus with constant velocity of suction at the walls and with swirl is reduced to the solution of four non-linear differential equations. The significance of each of these equations is discussed. By taking the swirl to be zero series solutions are obtained for (i) small suction or blowing (ii) when the total flow into the channel through the walls is small. Finally the asymptotic behaviour of the flow for large suction or blowing is discussed.     

Non-uniform suction control of flow around a circular cylinder

In the present study, numerical investigations were performed with optimisation to determine efficient non-uniform suction profiles to control the flow around a circular cylinder in the range of Reynolds numbers 4 < Re < 188.5. Several objectives were explored, namely the minimisation of the separation angle, total drag, and pressure drag. This was in an effort to determine the relationships between the characteristics of the uncontrolled flow and the parameters of the optimised suction control. A variety of non-uniform suction configurations were implemented and compared to the benchmark performance of uniform suction. It was determined that the best non-uniform suction profiles consisted of a distribution with a single locus and compact support. The centre of suction on the cylinder surface for the optimised control, and the quantity of suction necessary to achieve each objective, varied substantially with Reynolds number and also with the separation angle of the uncontrolled flows. These followed predictable relationships. Surprisingly, the location of optimised suction to eliminate separation did not follow the separation point as it moved with Re, but rather it moved in opposition to it towards the trailing edge of the cylinder. Non-uniform suction profiles were much more efficient at eliminating boundary layer separation, requiring the removal of less than half the volume of fluid as uniform control to achieve the same objective. Regardless of the method of control, less net suction was needed to minimise total drag than to eliminate separation, except at low Re. The results suggest that controlling the dynamic aspects of the flow has the most impact for reducing drag. This reinforces the usefulness of other studies that focus on the elimination of vortex shedding. The results show that the balance of drag components must be an important consideration when designing flow control systems and that, when done appropriately, substantial improvement can be seen in the flow characteristics.     

Aerodynamic jet steering using steady blowing and suction

An aerodynamic jet steering scheme using a combination of blowing and suction near the exit plane of the primary jet is demonstrated. Previous studies involving synthetic jet actuators have shown that jet steering or vectoring is achieved when primary jet fluid is drawn into the suction slot, and that the vectoring force increases with primary jet speed. These studies were limited by the high-actuation frequencies required to maintain vectoring at high primary jet speeds. The present steady technique does not suffer from this limitation, and requires suction and blowing flow rates which are a small fraction of that of the primary jet. This arrangement is studied experimentally and numerically. The results are presented primarily in terms of turning angle. It is found that for sufficient blowing flow rates (similar to the suction flow rate) the resultant turning angle increases linearly with the suction flow rate regardless of Reynolds number (up to 21,000). For insufficient blowing, the jet may be turned in the opposite direction.The authors would like to thank Ari Glezer for the loan of the primary jet facility, and Terry Zollinger for fabricating of the actuator and butterfly valve.     

Shock boundary layer interaction under the influence of a normal suction slot

The phenomenon of shock boundary layer interaction of a shock train under the influence of a normal suction slot is studied. In previous work, it was found that a normal, circumferential suction slot is sufficient to stabilize the primary shock of a shock train in as much as that the back pressure of the shock train can be increased until the shock train gradually changes into a single normal shock. Based on the experimental and numerical results, a flow model was derived which explains the transition of a shock train into a single shock under the influence of boundary layer suction. In this work, the normal shock boundary layer interaction model is validated against flow cases with different upstream Mach and Reynolds numbers. For that purpose three different nozzle flows are investigated at various total pressure levels. In a second step, the flow model is extended to the oblique shock case, correlating the suction mass flow with the total pressure distribution of the incoming boundary layer and the static pressure downstream of the oblique shock. Finally, the influence of the suction cavity pressure onto the shock boundary layer interaction is considered.     

Vortex-enhanced mixing through active and passive flow control methods

This study aims to understand the underlying physics of vortex-enhanced mixing through active and passive flow control methods. To find a best flow control method that enhances turbulent mixing through the generation of streamwise vortices, an experimental investigation was carried out to compare active and passive flow control methods of an incompressible axisymmetric jet. For active flow control, the lip of the circular jet was equipped with a single small flap deflected away from the jet stream at an angle of 30° to the jet axis. The flap incorporated a flow control slot through which steady and oscillatory suction were implemented. The active flow control methods require power input to the suction devices. For passive flow control, the lip of the circular jet was equipped with a single small delta tab deflected into the jet stream at an angle of 30° to the jet axis. The chord lengths of the flap and delta tab were one-sixth of the jet diameter. The momentum of jet increased in the case of active flow control by entraining the ambient fluid, whereas momentum decreased in the case of passive flow control. The effect of steady suction saturated for volumetric suction coefficient values greater than 0.82 %. The strength of streamwise vortices generated by the flap were greater than those generated by the delta tab. Steady suction produced positive pressures just downstream of the flow control slot in the central portion of the flap and negative pressures at the flap edges. Oscillatory suction was highly dependent on dimensionless frequency (F ⁺) based on the distance from the flow control slot to the flap trailing edge; the pressures on the central portion of the flap increased for F ⁺ ≤ 0.11 and then decreased for greater F ⁺; finally attained negative pressures at F ⁺ = 0.44. The increase in jet momentum and turbulence intensity, combined with the induced streamwise vorticity, makes steady suction a potential concept for increasing propulsion efficiency through vortex-enhanced mixing. The flow control methods modify the jet flow, which in turn would alter the jet noise spectra.     

Unsteady compressible boundary layer flow over a circular cone near a plane of symmetry

An analysis has been performed to study the unsteady laminar compressible boundary layer governing the hypersonic flow over a circular cone at an angle of attack near a plane of symmetry with either inflow or outflow in the presence of suction. The flow is assumed to be steady at time t=0 and at t>0 it becomes unsteady due to the time-dependent free stream velocity which varies arbitrarily with time. The nonlinear coupled parabolic partial differential equations under boundary layer approximations have been solved by using an implicit finite-difference method. It is found that suction plays an important role in stabilising the fluid motion and in obtaining unique solution of the problem. The effect of the cross flow parameter is found to be more pronounced on the cross flow surface shear stress than on the streamwise surface shear stress and surface heat transfer. Beyond a certain value of the cross flow parameter overshoot in the cross flow velocity occurs and the magnitude of this overshoot increases with the cross flow parameter. The time variation of the streamwise surface shear stress is more significant than that of the cross flow surface shear stress and surface heat transfer. The suction and the total enthalpy at the wall exert strong influence on the streamwise and cross flow surface shear stresses and the surface heat transfer except that the effect of suction on the cross flow surface shear stress is small.     

Passive Control of the Vortex Wake Past a Flat Plate at Incidence

A passive control, based on wall suction acting at the leading edge, is proposed to stabilize the vortex shedding from a flat plate at incidence. The correct suction amount is determined by a potential flow model where the large-scale vortical structures formed near the plate edges are represented by point vortices of variable intensity, and the wall suction by an adequately placed sink. We concentrate on the case of a plate that is broadside to the flow and show that the stabilization of the vortex wake can be obtained by simple passive backside suction. In such a case geometric shaping and passive suction have similar effects on the vortex Hamiltonian. The model predictions compare well with the results obtained by blob-vortex simulations, thus confirming the stabilization of the unsteady wake past the plate. Received 5 April 2002 and accepted 6 August 2002 Published online 3 December 2002 Communicated by M.Y. Hussaini     

Synthetic jet control of separation in the flow over a circular cylinder

A synthetic jet generated by a non-sinusoidal waveform is used to control flow separation around a circular cylinder at Reynolds number 950. The synthetic jet is positioned at the rear stagnation point. The suction duty cycle factor defined as the ratio of the time duration of the suction cycle to the blowing cycle is introduced as the determining parameter. Increasing the suction duty cycle factor, the exit velocity and entrainment effect of the synthetic jet are enhanced, flow separation is delayed, and drag reduction by up to 29?% is achieved. Different mechanisms for separation control during both the blowing cycle and the suction cycle have been revealed. It is suggested that a better control effect can be obtained during the blowing cycle.     

Predictions and observations of the flow field induced by laminar flow control microperforations

Hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) aims to reduce aircraft skin friction drag by controlling the boundary-layer characteristics through a combination of surface suction and surface profile shaping. Suction is applied through an array of microperforations in the surface; and, to enable HLFC design criteria to be established with confidence, a full understanding of how these suction perforations affect the boundary layer is required. The objective of this paper is to predict the flow field induced by surface suction through single and multiple rows of microperforations, at transonic cruise conditions. A broad range of cases are studied for a variety of geometric and flow configurations by solving the compressible, laminar, Navier-Stokes equations. The geometric parameters considered are perforation diameter, inclination to the surface, and perforation duct profile. The flow parameters consist of the boundary-layer displacement thickness and suction mass flow rate through the hole. From the predictions and analyses of the results, a wide variety of flow field patterns and features are observed; including longitudinal vortices, streamline curvature, large cross-flow velocities, inherently unstable velocity profiles, and a recirculation region at the perforation entrance. The perforation inlet shape is found to have a minimal effect on the induced flow field, but the level of streamwise vorticity is increased for inclined perforations. The size and shape of the sucked stream tube, which is currently used to predict the critical suction velocity, also is determined. For multiple rows of perforations, the flow field characteristics are shown to be influenced by significant interhole effects. The mass flow rate characteristics of microperforations are found to be insensitive to the ratio of hole diameter to boundary-layer displacement thickness. Also, conical bore holes are shown to provide substantial static pressure recovery due to diffusion effects.     

An improved genetic algorithm and its applications to the optimisation design of an aspirated compressor profile

Genetic algorithm (GA) is a widely used method for numerical optimisation owing to their good global search ability; however, their local search ability has an obvious shortcoming. To improve local search ability, this paper introduces a simplex method and combines it with a GA to form an improved genetic algorithm (IGA). In the IGA, at each generation of the original GA, high‐fitness individuals are selected as vertices of a simplex, and then a one‐dimensional search within the simplex is conducted to obtain the most‐fit individuals while replacing the inferior ones. Typical test functions show that the IGA can effectively improve the optimisation effect over that of the original GA. To further verify the IGA's practicability, an aspirated compressor profile is optimised with profile, suction flow rate and suction flow location as coupled design parameters. The results again show that the IGA has a better optimising effect than the GA. In addition, it is also verified that coupling the profile and suction flow parameters results in a design that outperforms the uncoupled design; therefore, designing an aspirated compressor blade by arranging suction flow on a conventional blade without considering suction flow is not a good method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anisotropy measurements in the boundary layer over a flat plate with suction

Laser Doppler velocity measurements are carried out in a turbulent boundary layer subjected to concentrated wall suction (through a porous strip). The measurements are taken over a longitudinal distance of 9× the incoming boundary layer thickness ahead of the suction strip. The mean and rms velocity profiles are affected substantially by suction. Two-point measurements show that the streamwise and wall-normal autocorrelations of the streamwise velocity are reduced by suction. It is found that suction alters the redistribution of the turbulent kinetic energy k between its components. Relative to the no-suction case, the longitudinal Reynolds stress contributes more to k than the other two normal Reynolds stresses; in the outer region, its contribution is reduced which suggests structural changes in the boundary layer. This is observed in the anisotropy of the Reynolds stresses, which depart from the non-disturbed boundary layer. With suction, the anisotropy level in the near-wall region appears to be stronger than that of the undisturbed layer. It is argued that the mean shear induced by suction on the flow is responsible for the alteration of the anisotropy. The variation of the anisotropy of the layer will make the development of a turbulence model quite difficult for the flow behind suction. In that respect, a turbulence model will need to reproduce well the effects of suction on the boundary layer, if the model is to capture the effect of suction on the anisotropy of the Reynolds stresses.