Numerical simulation of cross-flow around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration

Successful numerical simulations can reveal important flow characteristics and information which are extremely difficult to obtain experimentally. Two- and three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulations of cross-flow around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration are performed using a finite-volume method. For 2-D studies, the Reynolds numbers (Re) are chosen to be Re=100 and 200 and the spacing ratio L/D is set at 1.6, 2.5, 3.5, 4.0 and 5.0. For the 3-D investigation, the simulation is only performed at a Re=200, a spacing ratio L/D=4.0 and an aspect ratio H/D=16. The 2-D studies reveal three distinct flow patterns: (I) a stable shielding flow; (II) a wiggling shielding flow and (III) a vortex shedding flow. A transformation of the flow pattern from (I) to (II) at Re=100 will increase the amplitude of the maximum fluctuating pressure on the downstream cylinder surface by 4–12 times, while a transformation of the flow pattern from (II) to (III) will enhance the maximum fluctuating pressure amplitude by 2–3 times. There is a large discrepancy between 2-D simulation and flow visualization results at L/D=4.0 and Re=200. A probable cause could be the strong 3-D effect at the ends of the cylinder at low H/D. It was found that, for an in-line square configuration at critical L/D and when H/D is lower than a certain value, 3-D effects are very significant at the ends of the cylinders. In such cases, a time-consuming 3-D numerical simulation will have to be performed if full replication of the flow phenomenon were to be achieved.     

Experimental study and large eddy simulation for the turbulent flow around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration

The turbulent flows around four cylinders in an in-line square configuration with different spacing ratios of 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 5.0 have been investigated experimentally at subcritical Reynolds numbers from 11,000 to 20,000. The mean and fluctuating velocity distributions were obtained using the laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) measurement. The digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) was employed to characterize the full field vorticity and velocity distributions as well as other turbulent quantities. The experimental study indicated that several distinct flow patterns exist depending on the spacing ratio and subcritical Reynolds number for turbulent flow. The three-dimensional numerical simulations were also carried out using the large eddy simulation (LES) at Reynolds number of 15,000 with the spacing ratio of 1.5 and 3.5. The results show that the LES numerical predictions are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. Therefore, the three-dimensional vortex structures and the full field instantaneous and mean quantities of the flow field such as velocity field, vorticity field, etc., which are very difficult to obtain experimentally, can be extracted from the simulation results for the deepening of our understanding on the complex flow phenomena around four cylinders in in-line configuration.     

Flow around four cylinders arranged in a square configuration

This paper presents an experimental study of the flow around four circular cylinders arranged in a square configuration. The Reynolds number was fixed at Re=8000, the pitch-to-diameter ratio between adjacent cylinders was varied from P/D=2 to 5 and the incidence angle was changed from α=0° (in-line square configuration) to 45° (diamond configuration) at an interval of 7.5°. The flow field was measured using digital Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to examine the vortex shedding characteristics of the cylinders, together with direct measurement of fluid dynamic forces (lift and drag) on each cylinder using a piezoelectric load cell. Depending on the pitch ratio, the flow could be broadly classified as shielding regime (P/D≤2), shear layer reattachment regime (2.5≤P/D≤3.5) and vortex impinging regime (P/D≥4). However, this classification is valid only in the case that the cylinder array is arranged nearly in-line with the free stream (α≈0°), because the flow is also sensitive to α. As α increases from 0° to 45°, each cylinder experiences a transition of vortex shedding pattern from a one-frequency mode to a two-frequency mode. The flow interference among the cylinders is complicated, which could be non-synchronous, quasi-periodic or synchronized with a definite phase relationship with other cylinders depending on the combined value of α and P/D. The change in vortex pattern is also reflected by some integral parameters of the flow such as force coefficients, power spectra and Strouhal numbers.     

Identification of flow regimes around two staggered square cylinders by a numerical study

The flow over two square cylinders in staggered arrangement is simulated numerically at a fixed Reynolds number (\(Re =150\)) for different gap spacing between cylinders from 0.1 to 6 times a cylinder side to understand the flow structures. The non-inclined square cylinders are located on a line with a staggered angle of \(45^{\circ }\) to the oncoming velocity vector. All numerical simulations are carried out with a finite-volume code based on a collocated grid arrangement. The effects of vortex shedding on the various features of the flow field are numerically visualized using different flow contours such as \(\lambda _{2}\) criterion, vorticity, pressure and magnitudes of velocity to distinguish the distinctive flow patterns. By changing the gap spacing between cylinders, five different flow regimes are identified and classified as single body, periodic gap flow, aperiodic, modulated periodic and synchronized vortex shedding regimes. This study revealed that the observed multiple frequencies in global forces of the downstream cylinder in the modulated periodic regime are more properly associated with differences in vortex shedding frequencies of individual cylinders than individual shear layers reported in some previous works; particularly, both shear layers from the downstream cylinder often shed vortices at the same multiple frequencies. The maximum Strouhal number for the upstream cylinder is also identified at \({G}^{*}=1\) for aperiodic flow pattern. Furthermore, for most cases studied, the downstream cylinder experiences larger drag force than the upstream cylinder.     

Numerical simulations of the vortex-shedding in flows around rectangular cylinders

Flows around rectangular cylinders with a series of width-to-height ratios are calculated by means of the Improved Finite Analytic Method (IFAM) and the formation, development and shedding of vortices from the cylinders are simulated successfully. According to these results of time-dependent processes the physical phenomena in the flows are investigated in detail, and the discontinuity of Strouhal number is explained in the case of the width-to-height ratio equal to 3.0. The numerical solutions here show good agreement with the experimental results. In addition, based on several hundreds of the calculated flow patterns a moving picture is made by the computer image processing technology and recorded on a video tape, and then the vivid pictures of the physical process of vortex-shedding can be replayed later and analysed in detail. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

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.     

Flow around two tandem square cylinders near a plane wall

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the flow around two identical square cylinders in tandem arrangement and placed near a plane wall at a Reynolds number of 6,300. The inter-cylinder spacing ratio was varied from S ^* = 0.5 to 6, and the cylinder-to-wall gap ratio from G ^* = 0.25 to 2. Totally, 42 cases were considered to systematically examine the effects of wall proximity and the mutual interference between the two cylinders in the normalized gap–spacing (G ^*–S ^*) plane. The flow fields were captured using digital particle image velocimetry, in conjunction with measurements of the fluid forces (drag and lift) acting on the downstream cylinder using a piezoelectric load cell. The results show that the flow is highly dependent on the combined values of G ^* and S ^*. Categories relating to G ^* could be broadly classified as small-gap regime (G ^* < 0.5) at which periodic vortex shedding from the cylinders is suppressed, intermediate-gap regime (0.5 < G ^* < 1) where vortex shedding occurs but is under the influence of the wall proximity, and large-gap regime (G ^* > 1) where the wall effects become negligible. Similarly, the flow interference between the two cylinders can be divided into three basic categories as a function of S ^*, namely, shielding regime at S ^* < 1, reattachment regime at 1 < S ^* < 3, and impinging regime at S ^* > 3. Variations of force coefficients, amplitude spectra, Strouhal numbers, and Reynolds shear stress with G ^* and S ^* are presented to characterize the different flow regimes.     

Numerical computation of the flow around two square cylinders arranged side-by-side

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Numerical simulation of viscous oscillatory flow past four cylinders in square arrangement

The results of a numerical study of the viscous oscillating flow past four circular cylinders, for a constant frequency parameter equal to 50 and KC ranging between 0.2 and 10, are presented. The cylinders were placed on the vertices of a square, two sides of which were perpendicular and two parallel to the oncoming flow, for pitch ratios, P/D, ranging between 2 and 5. The finite-element method was employed for the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations, in the formulation where the stream function and the vorticity are the field variables, whereas the pressure distribution throughout the computational domain was obtained from the solution of Poisson’s equation. When the Keulegan-Carpenter number is lower than 4, the flow remains symmetrical with respect to the horizontal axis of symmetry of the solution domain and periodic at consecutive cycles. As KC increases to 4, the flow becomes aperiodic in different cycles, although symmetry with respect to the horizontal central line of the domain is preserved. For KC equal to 5, asymmetries appear intermittently in the flow, which are eventually amplified as KC increases still further. These asymmetries, in association with the aperiodicity of flow in different cycles, lead to an almost chaotic configuration as KC grows larger. For characteristic cases the flow pattern and the time histories of the in-line and transverse forces exerted on the cylinders are presented. The mean transverse forces acting on the cylinders, the r.m.s. values of the in-line and transverse forces, together with the drag and inertia coefficients of the in-line force, were evaluated for each pitch ratio in the range of Keulegan-Carpenter numbers examined and are presented in diagrams.     

Large eddy simulations of flow interference between two unequal sized square cylinders

A uniform flow past two unequal sized square cylinders arranged in a side-by-side pattern and at a Reynolds number of 50,000 has been investigated using large eddy simulation (LES) technique. The modelling of sub-grid scales of turbulence is done using the Smagorinsky model. The effect of the transverse gap ratio (T/D) on the flow characteristics has been studied. Numerical simulations are carried out for five different transverse gap ratios (T/D), namely 1.120, 1.250, 1.375, 1.750 and 2.500. Results in terms of the aerodynamic forces, Strouhal number, mean base pressure coefficient, streamlines, vorticity, surface pressure distribution, normal and shear stresses are presented. A shift in the stagnation point for the small square cylinder from the centre of its front face towards its gap side is seen at smaller T/D ratios. The presence of a jet-like flow seen in the gap side is more pronounced at T/D = 1.12. A biased gap side flow towards the near wake of the small square cylinder is seen at smaller T/D ratios. No interference effect is seen at T/D = 2.5. The flow behaviour is similar to that of the isolated square cylinder at this gap ratio.     

Numerical simulations of solidification around two tandemly-arranged circular cylinders under forced convection

This paper presents a parametric numerical investigation of solidification around two cooled cylinders placed in tandem under forced convection. The front-tracking/finite difference method is used together with an interpolation technique for solving the phase change process. Evolution of the solidifying interface is followed by the front-tracking, and the interpolation handles the presence of the solid phase and the no-slip and constant isothermal boundary conditions. The effects of various non-dimensional parameters on the evolution of the solid phase such as the Reynolds number Re, the Stefan number St, the dimensionless temperature of the inflowing liquid θ₀, the ratios of the thermal properties k_sl and C_psl, and the distance between two cylinders L are studied. The computational results show that the solidified region expands with an increase in k_sl or L, or with a decrease in any one of Re, Pr, θ₀. However, St and C_psl have a minor effect on the final form of the solid phase. The effect of density difference between the solid and liquid phases, and results in the case of side-by-side arrangement are also presented.     

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.     

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     

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.     

Numerical analysis for freezing/melting around vertically arranged four cylinders

Freezing/melting of water/ice around vertically arranged four horizontal cylinders placed in a rectangular cavity is investigated numerically by using a commercial software package. Freezing/melting is affected by the bottom cylinder distance h from the cavity bottom and by a complicated natural convection as well as the interaction with the flow around each cylinder.     

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.     

Numerical investigation of mixed convection heat transfer past an in-line bundle of cylinders

Two dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes and the energy equations are solved using finite element method for the case of flow past five row deep in-line bundle of circular cylinders with pitch to diameter ratios (PDR) of 1.5 and 2.0. Numerical solutions of governing equations have been obtained using Euler's explicit algorithm. Analysis have been made for Reynolds number of 100 and Prandtl number of 0.71. The effect of Richardson number (Ri=Gr/Re ²) on the flow and heat transfer have been investigated forRi=?1.0, ?0.5, 0.0, +0.5 and +1.0. Streamlines, isovorticity lines, pressure and temperature contours, local and average Nusselt numbers, pressure and shear stress distribution around the cylinders are presented. Results obtained for forced convection (Ri=0.0) agree well with the available experimental and numerical results. There is considerable effect of buoyancy over tube bundles both in buoyancy aiding and opposing flows.