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.     

Flow-induced oscillation of two circular cylinders in tandem arrangement at low Re

Results are presented for flow-induced vibrations of a pair of equal-sized circular cylinders of low nondimensional mass (m^*=10) in a tandem arrangement. The cylinders are free to oscillate both in streamwise and transverse directions. The Reynolds number, based on the free-stream speed and the diameter of the cylinders, D is 100 and the centre-to-centre distance between the cylinders is 5.5D. The computations are carried out for reduced velocities in the range 2≤U^*≤15. The structural damping is set to zero for enabling maximum amplitudes of oscillation. A stabilized finite element method is utilized to carry out the computations in two dimensions. Even though the response of the upstream cylinder is found to be qualitatively similar to that of an isolated cylinder, the presence of a downstream cylinder is found to have significant effect on the behaviour of the upstream cylinder. The downstream cylinder undergoes very large amplitude of oscillations in both transverse and streamwise directions. The maximum amplitude of transverse response of the downstream cylinder is quite similar to that of a single cylinder at higher Re beyond the laminar regime. Lock-in and hysteresis are observed for both upstream and downstream cylinders. The downstream cylinder undergoes large amplitude oscillations even beyond the lock-in state. The phase between transverse oscillations and lift force suffers a 180 jump for both the cylinders almost in the middle of the synchronization regime. The phase between the transverse response of the two cylinders is also studied. Complex flow patterns are observed in the wake of the freely vibrating cylinders. Based on the phase difference and the flow patterns, the entire flow range is divided into five sub-regions.     

Numerical simulation of the flow around a porous covering square cylinder in a channel via lattice Boltzmann method

In this paper, a detailed investigation on the flow past a porous covering cylinder is presented through the lattice Boltzmann method. The Brinkman‐Forchheimer‐extended Darcy model is adopted for the entire flow field with the solid, fluid, and porous medium. The effects of several parameters, such as porous layer thickness, Darcy number, porosity, and Reynolds number on flow field are discussed. Compared with the case of a solid cylinder, the present work shows that the porous layer may play an important role on the flow, the lift and drag force exerted on the cylinder. The numerical results indicate that the maximal drag coefficient C_d and maximal amplitude of lift coefficient C_l exist at certain Darcy number which is in the range of 10^?6–10^?2. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow interference between a stationary cylinder and an elastically mounted cylinder arranged in proximity

The flow interference between two circular cylinders, one stationary and the other free to oscillate in the transverse direction, are studied numerically at Re=150. The incompressible Navier–Stokes equation in two space dimensions, an assumption that is expected to be valid at the considered Re, is solved by the characteristic-based-split (CBS) finite element method using the T4/C3 MINI triangular element. The center-to-center spacing between the two cylinders is fixed at 4D, where D is the cylinder diameter. The angle of incident flow, α, with respect to the line through the two cylinder centers, varies within the range from α=0° to 90°. For the elastically mounted cylinder, the reduced mass considered is M_r=2.0; the structural damping coefficient is assigned to be zero, which encourages high amplitude oscillations. For each α, the computations are conducted for a wide range of reduced velocities, U_r. The flow interference is examined by scrutinizing (i) the frequency characteristics of the vortex shedding and oscillation; (ii) the dynamic response of the oscillating cylinder, including the amplitude of displacement, the drag and lift force characteristics and the phase relationship between the lift and the displacement series; and (iii) the flow response in terms of the instantaneous vorticity field. It was found that the flow interference type is significantly affected by the angle of the incident flow. As the cylinder is oscillated outside of the region of the wake behind the stationary cylinder (α≥30°), it behaves similarly to its isolated counterpart. In contrast, if the cylinder is partially or entirely submerged within the upstream wake (α<30°), then both the flow and body responses are substantially modified due to the vigorous interaction between the upstream wake and the oscillating cylinder; the response therefore belongs to the wake-induced regime. The U_r range associated with the higher amplitude response is significantly shifted toward a higher U_r. The maximum vibration amplitude builds up to a significantly higher level, even increasing the U_r far beyond the resonance regime. In general, the wake flow associated with the wake-induced vibration (WIV) regime appears to be more unperiodic than does that corresponding to the vortex-induced oscillation regime. It is also revealed that both the vortex-cylinder and the shear layer-cylinder interaction mechanisms are responsible for the characteristics of the responses of oscillating cylinder. The larger momentum required for the higher oscillation amplitude is obtained from the duration of the energy transfer from the fluid to the cylinder, which is ascribed to the phase lag between the lift force and the cylinder displacement.     

Feedback control of vortex shedding from a circular cylinder by cross-flow cylinder oscillations

Feedback control of vortex shedding from a circular cylinder in a uniform flow at moderate Reynolds numbers is studied experimentally with the cylinder subjected to feedback cylinder oscillations in cross-flow direction. The cylinder oscillation is digitally phase shifted with respect to the shedding vortex and is controlled by velocity feedback from the shear layer of the cylinder wake. Possible attenuation of vortex shedding is demonstrated by hot-wire measurements of the flow field and its mechanisms are studied by simultaneous data sampling and flow visualization with the smoke wire method and a laser-sheet illumination technique. Measurement results reveal substantial reduction in the fluctuating reference velocity at the optimum phase control. Flow visualization study indicates that the shear layer roll-up and the eventual vortex formation are dynamically attenuated under the control which results in a modification of the near wake.List of symbols A amplitude of cylinder oscillation - D cylinder diameter - E _u power spectrum function for fluctuating velocity u - frequency - R radius of circular cylinder - t time - u streamwise mean velocity - u streamwise fluctuating velocity - U streamwise mean velocity of main flow - u _r mean reference velocity - u _r fluctuating reference velocity - u _rf fluctuating reference velocity after filtering - y _c cylinder displacement - x, y, z coordinates from the cylinder center (Fig. 1) - feedback coefficient - phase lag The authors would like to express thanks to Professor K. Nagaya for his advice for designing electromagnetic actuators in the present experiments.     

Computation of Vortex Shedding and Radiated Sound for a Circular Cylinder: Subcritical to Transcritical Reynolds Numbers

The Lighthill acoustic analogy combined with Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes flow computations are used to investigate the ability of existing technology to predict the tonal noise generated by vortex shedding from a circular cylinder for a range of Reynolds numbers (100 < Re < 5 million). Computed mean drag, mean coefficient of pressure, Strouhal number, and fluctuating lift are compared with experiment. Two-dimensional calculations produce a Reynolds number trend similar to experiment but incorrectly predict many of the flow quantities. Different turbulence models give inconsistent results in the critical Reynolds number range (Re≈ 100000). The computed flow field is used as input for noise prediction. Two-dimensional inputs overpredict both noise amplitude and frequency; however, if an appropriate correlation length is used, predicted noise amplitudes agree with experiment. Noise levels and frequency content agree much better with experiment when three-dimensional flow computations are used as input data. Received 5 May 1998 and accepted 28 September 1998     

Fluctuating lift on a circular cylinder: review and new measurements

Apart from providing some new experimental data the paper reviews previous investigations concerning fluctuating lift acting on a stationary circular cylinder in cross-flow. In particular, effects of Reynolds number in the nominal case of an infinitely long and nonconfined cylinder in a smooth oncoming flow are discussed. The Reynolds number range covered is from about Re=47 to 2×10⁵, i.e., from the onset of vortex shedding up to the end of the subcritical regime. At the beginning of the subcritical regime (Re≃0.3×10³) a spanwise correlation length of about 30 cylinder diameters is indicated, the correlation function being based on near-cylinder velocity fluctuations in outer parts of the separated shear layer. In between Reynolds numbers 1.6×10³ and 20×10³, an approximate 10-fold increase in the sectional r.m.s. lift coefficient is indicated. This range contains a fundamental change-over from one flow state to another, starting off at Re≃5×10³ and seemingly fully developed at Re≃8×10³.     

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     

Free v/s forced vibrations of a cylinder at low Re

Free vibrations of a circular cylinder of low non-dimensional mass are investigated at low Reynolds numbers. Computations are carried out for 5% blockage. Lock-in is observed for a range of Re and is accompanied with hysteresis at both lower as well as higher Re ends of the synchronisation/lock-in region. It is well known that the lock-in regime for free vibrations depends on the non-dimensional mass of the oscillator. The results from the present computations are compared with the data for forced vibrations from Koopmann (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 28, 501–512, 1967) on a Y _max/D vs. f* plot, where Y _max is the maximum oscillation amplitude and f* is the ratio of cylinder vibration frequency to the vortex shedding frequency for a stationary cylinder. Good agreement is observed for the critical amplitude needed for onset of synchronisation between the forced and free vibrations. The results from the free vibrations are compared to the predictions from the linear oscillator model by assuming that the forces on the cylinder are unaffected as a result of vibrations. It is found that, for low mass oscillators, the modification of vortex shedding frequency and lift coefficient due to cylinder oscillations leads to the enhancement of the lock-in regime.     

Effect of acoustic excitation on flow over a partially grooved circular cylinder

An experimental investigation was carried out on the flow over a partially grooved circular cylinder over a Reynolds number range of 3 × 10⁴ to 1.22 × 10⁵ with and without acoustic excitation. Without excitation the flow over the smooth half of the cylinder was observed to shift to higher subcritical regime. The flow over the groove half, however, is shifted to supercritical or transcritical flow regime. With excitation, on the smooth half it is the separated laminar shear layer which locks in with the excitation frequency, resulting in the shift from subcritical to supercritical or transcritical regimes. On the groove half excitation is not effective for the flow within the transcritical regime. With excitation, the lift is found to reverse its direction while the drag is nearly the same.This study is partly supported by a grant from the Committee of Research and Conference Grants. The University of Hong Kong     

Cross-flow past a pair of nearly in-line cylinders with the upstream cylinder subjected to a transverse harmonic oscillation

An experimental investigation is presented for the cross-flow past a pair of staggered circular cylinders, with the upstream cylinder subject to forced harmonic oscillation transverse to the flow direction. Experiments were conducted in a water tunnel with Reynolds numbers, based on upstream velocity, U, and cylinder diameter, D, in the range 1440⩽Re⩽1680. The longitudinal separation between cylinder centres is L/D=2.0, with a transverse separation (for the mean position of the upstream cylinder) of T/D=0.17; the magnitude of the harmonic oscillation is 0.44D peak-to-peak and the nondimensional frequency range of the excitation is 0.05⩽f_eD/U⩽0.44. Flow visualization of the wake-formation region and hot-film measurements of the wake spectra are used to investigate the wake-formation process. An earlier study showed that stationary cylinders in this nearly in-line configuration straddle two very different flow regimes, the so-called shear-layer reattachment (SLR) and induced separation (IS) regimes. The present study, demonstrates that oscillation of the upstream cylinder causes considerable modification of the flow patterns around the cylinders. In particular, the wake experiences strong periodicities at the frequency of the oscillating cylinder; in addition to the usual fundamental lock-in, both sub- and superharmonic resonances are obtained. It is also observed that, although the flow exhibits regions of SLR and IS for excitation frequencies below the fundamental lock-in, for frequencies above the lock-in range the flow no longer resembles either of these flow regimes and vortices are formed in the gap between the cylinders.     

Free-stream turbulence effects on vortex-induced vibration of two side-by-side elastic cylinders

The effect of free-stream turbulence on vortex-induced vibration of two side-by-side elastic cylinders in a cross-flow was investigated experimentally. A turbulence generation grid was used to generate turbulent incoming flow with turbulence intensity around 10%. Cylinder displacements in the transverse direction at cylinder mid-span were measured in the reduced velocity range 1.45<U_r0<12.08, corresponding to a range of Reynolds number (Re), based on the mean free-stream velocity and the diameter of the cylinder, between Re=5000–41 000. The focus of the study is on the regime of biased gap flow, where two cylinders with pitch ratio (T/D) varying from 1.17 to 1.90 are considered. Results show that the free-stream turbulence effect is to enhance the vortex-induced force, thus to restore the large-amplitude vibration associated with the lock-in resonance. However, the enhancement is significant at a different Strouhal number (St) for different pitch ratios. When the spacing between two cylinders is relatively small (1.17<T/D<1.50), the enhancement is significant at St≈0.1. When the spacing is increased, the Strouhal number at which the enhancement is significant shifts to St≈0.16. This enlarges the range of reduced velocity to be concerned. An energy analysis showed that free-stream turbulence feeds energy to the cylinder at multiple frequencies of vortex shedding. Therefore, the lock-in region is still of main concern when the approach flow is turbulent.     

Drag Reduction of a Circular Cylinder Using an Upstream Rod

Experimental studies on the drag reduction of the circular cylinder were conducted by pressure measurement at a Reynolds number of 82 000 (based on the cylinder diameter). A rod was placed upstream of and parallel to the cylinder to control the flow around the cylinder. The upstream rod can reduce the resultant force of the cylinder at various spacing between the rod and the cylinder for α < 5^∘(α defined as the staggered angle of the rod and the cylinder). For α > 10^∘, the resultant force coefficient has a large value, so the upstream rod cannot reduce the force on the cylinder any more. For α = 0^∘ and d/D = 0.5 (where d and D are the diameter of the rod and the cylinder, respectively), the maximum drag of the cylinder reduces to 2.34% that of the single cylinder. The mechanism of the drag reduction of the cylinder with an upstream rod in tandem was presented by estimating the local contributions to the drag reduction of the pressure variation. In the staggered arrangement, the flow structures have five flow patterns (they are the cavity mode, the wake splitting mode, the wake merge mode, the weak boundary layer interaction mode and the negligible interaction mode) according to the pressure distribution and the hydrogen bubble flow visualization. The half plane upwind of the cylinder can be divided to four regions, from which one can easily estimates the force acting on the circular cylinder with an upstream rod in staggered arrangement.     

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     

Scale-adaptive simulation of flow past wavy cylinders at a subcritical Reynolds number

The Xu & Yan scale-adaptive simulation (XYSAS) model is employed to simulate the flows past wavy cylinders at Reynolds number 8 × 10 3.This approach yields results in good agreement with experimental measurements.The mean flow field and near wake vortex structure are replicated and compared with that of a corresponding circular cylinder.The effects of wavelength ratios λ/D m from 3 to 7,together with the amplitude ratios a /D m of 0.091 and 0.25,are fully investigated.Owing to the wavy configuration,a maximum reduction of Strouhal number and root-meansquare (r.m.s) fluctuating lift coefficients are up to 50% and 92%,respectively,which means the vortex induced vibration (VIV) could be effectively alleviated at certain larger values of λ/D m and a /D m.Also,the drag coefficients can be reduced by 30%.It is found that the flow field presents contrary patterns with the increase of λ/D m.The free shear layer becomes much more stable and rolls up into mature vortex only further downstream when λ/D m falls in the range of 5-7.The amplitude ratio a /D m greatly changes the separation line,and subsequently influences the wake structures.     

Numerical simulation of shear effect on vortex shedding behind a square cylinder

This paper is concerned with the numerical simulation of the flow structure around a square cylinder in a uniform shear flow. The calculations were conducted by solving the unsteady 2D Navier–Stokes equations with a finite difference method. The effect of the shear parameter K of the approaching flow on the vortex-shedding Strouhal number and the force coefficients acting on the square cylinder is investigated in the range K=0·0–0·25 at various Reynolds numbers from 500 to 1500. The computational results are compared with some existing experimental data and previous studies. The effect of shear rate on the Strouhal number and the force acting on the cylinder has a tendency to reduce the oscillation. The Strouhal number, mean drag and amplitude of the fluctuating force tend to decrease as the shear rate increases, but show no significant change at low shear rate. Increasing the Reynolds number decreases the Strouhal number and increases the force acting on the cylinder. At high shear rate the shedding frequencies of the fluctuating drag and lift coefficients are identical. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Control of mean and fluctuating forces on a circular cylinder at high Reynolds numbers

A narrow strip is used to control mean and fluctuating forces on a circular cylinder at Reynolds numbers from 2.0 × 10⁴ to 1.0 × 10⁵. The axes of the strip and cylinder are parallel. The control parameters are strip width ratio and strip position characterized by angle of attack and distance from the cylinder. Wind tunnel tests show that the vortex shedding from both sides of the cylinder can be suppressed, and mean drag and fluctuating lift on the cylinder can be reduced if the strip is installed in an effective zone downstream of the cylinder. A phenomenon of mono-side vortex shedding is found. The strip-induced local changes of velocity profiles in the near wake of the cylinder are measured, and the relation between base suction and peak value in the power spectrum of fluctuating lift is studied. The control mechanism is then discussed from different points of view. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10172087 and 10472124). The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Numerical investigation on vortex-induced vibration of an elastically mounted circular cylinder at low Reynolds number using the fictitious domain method

A direct numerical simulation of two-dimensional (2D) flow past an elastically mounted circular cylinder at low Reynolds number using the fictitious domain method had been undertaken. The cylinder motion was modelled by a two degree-of-freedom mass–spring–damper system. The computing code was verified against a benchmark problem in which flow past a stationary circular cylinder is simulated. Then, analyses of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) responses, drag and lift forces and the phase and vortex structures were carried out. Results show that the cylinder's non-dimensional cross-flow response amplitude reaches its summit of 0.572 in the ‘lock-in’ regime. The ‘2S’, instead of the ‘2P’, vortex shedding mode is dominated in the ‘lower’ branch for this 2D low-Re VIV. A secondary oscillation is observed in the lift force when ‘lock-in’ occurs. It is shown that this secondary component changes the phase, offset the energy input by the primary component and thus reduces the cylinder responses. Effects of the Skop–Griffin parameter on cylinder responses were also investigated.     

On the study of vortex-induced vibration of a cylinder with helical strakes

While the effect of helical strakes on suppression of Vortex-Induced Vibrations (VIV) has been studied extensively, the mechanism of VIV mitigation using helical strakes is much less well documented in the literature. In the present study, a rigid circular cylinder of diameter d=80 mm attached with three-strand helical strakes of dimensions of 10d in pitch and 0.12d in height was tested in a wind tunnel. It was found that the helical strakes can reduce VIV by about 98%. Unlike the bare cylinder, which experiences lock-in over the reduced velocity in the range of 5-8.5, the straked cylinder does not show any lock-in region. In exploring the mechanism of VIV reduction by helical strakes, measurements in stationary bare and straked cylinder wakes using both a single X-probe at four different Reynolds numbers, i.e. Re=10 240, 20 430, 30 610 and 40 800, and two X-probes with variable separations in the spanwise direction at Re=20 430 were conducted. It was found that vortices shed from the straked cylinder are weakened significantly. The dominate frequency varies by about 30% over the range of x/d=10-40 in the streamwise direction while that differs by about 37.2% of the averaged peak frequency over a length of 3.125d in the spanwise direction. The latter is supported by the phase difference between the velocity signals measured at two locations separated in the spanwise direction. The correlation length of the vortex structures in the bare cylinder wake is much larger than that obtained in the straked cylinder wake. As a result, the straked cylinder wake agrees more closely with isotropy than the bare cylinder wake. Flow visualization on the plane perpendicular to the cylinder axis at Reynolds number of about 300 reveals small-scale vortices in the shear layers of the straked cylinder wake. However, these vortices do not roll up and interact with each other to form the well-organized Karman-type vortices. Flow visualization on the plane parallel to the cylinder axis shows vortex dislocation and swirling flow, which should be responsible for the variations of the peak frequency in the streamwise as well as spanwise directions.     

Experiments on the lift of a spinning sphere in a range of intermediate Reynolds numbers

 The lift force experienced by a spinning sphere moving in a viscous fluid, with constant linear and angular velocities, is measured by means of a trajectographic technique. Measurements are performed in the range of dimensionless angular velocities γ=aω/V lying between 1 and 6, and in the range of Reynolds numbers Re=2aV/ν lying between 10 and 140 (a sphere radius, ω angular velocity, V relative velocity of the sphere centre, ν fluid kinematic viscosity). A notable departure from the theoretical relationship at low Reynolds number, C _L =2γ, is obtained, the ratio C _L /γ being found to significantly decrease with increasing γ and increasing Re. The following correlation is finally proposed to estimate the lift coefficient in the range 10<Re<140: C _L ≅0.45+(2γ−0.45) exp (−0.075γ^0.4 Re ^0.7) Received: 20 May 1996/Accepted: 9 November 1997