Quantification of wake unsteadiness for low-Re flow across two staggered cylinders

Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Xiaojun Li ◽  
Zuchao Zhu

This work performs a numerical investigation on the two-dimensional flow across two circular cylinders in staggered arrangement at Re = 100. The seaparting distances between the centers of the cylinders are D/ d = 4–10 with Δ D/ d = 2 and T/ d = 0.0–2.0 with Δ T/ d = 0.5 in the streamwise and transverse directions, respectively, in which d is the cylinder diameter. Although the low- Re flow across staggered cylinders has been studied in a number of works, the authors mainly concerned about the identification and transition of various flow patterns. In this work, our objective is to quantitatively reveal the characteristics of flow unsteadiness as affected by the two separating distances. The flow unsteadiness is assessed from several aspects, including the spatial distributions and temporal variations of instantaneous flow patterns, fluctuating characteristic quantities, and fluctuating flow in the gap and in the near- and far-wake regions. To investigate the inherent instability of the flow, the global linear stability and sensitivity analysis is further carried out to demonstrate the unstable mode of perturbation growth and the critical flow patterns that destabilize the flow. The numerical results reveal that the wake flow between the two centerlines and beside the upstream cylinder is the most intensely perturbed. The flow around the downstream cylinder exhibits great fluctuation as perturbed by the destabilized shear layer of the upstream cylinder. The flow downstream of both cylinders shows multiple peak fluctuation of velocity because of the complex interactions between the destabilized shear layer and the wake vortices, resulting in the bidirectional transverse propagation of fluctuation. The stability analysis demonstrates that the unstable mode of perturbation growth is more significant in the far-wake region as the two cylinders are placed in proximity; the sensitivity analysis shows that the gap flow is crucial for the flow destabilization at small D, while the wake flow of cylinder- B is more significant for large D.

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Hui Yang ◽  
Hua-Shu Dou ◽  
Zuchao Zhu

The present study investigates the two-dimensional flow past an inclined triangular cylinder at Re = 100. Numerical simulation is performed to explore the effect of cylinder inclination on the aerodynamic quantities, unsteady flow patterns, time-averaged flow characteristics, and flow unsteadiness. We also provide the first global linear stability analysis and sensitivity analysis on the targeted physical problem for the potential application of flow control. The objective of this work is to quantitatively identify the effect of cylinder inclination on the characteristic quantities and unsteady flow patterns, with emphasis on the flow unsteadiness and instability. Numerical results reveal that the flow unsteadiness is generally more pronounced for the base-facing-like cylinders (α → 60 deg) where separation occurs at the front corners. The inclined cylinder reduces the velocity deficiency in the near-wake, and the reduction in far-wake is the most notable for the α = 30 deg cylinder. The transverse distributions of several quantities are shifted toward the negative y-direction, such as the maximum velocity deficiency and maximum/minimum velocity fluctuation. Finally, the global stability and sensitivity analysis show that the spatial structures of perturbed velocities are quite similar for α ≤ 30 deg and the temporal growth rate of perturbation is sensitive to the near-wake flow, while for α ≥ 40 deg there are remarkable transverse expansion and streamwise elongation of the perturbed velocities, and the growth rate is sensitive to the far-wake flow.


Author(s):  
Jie Sun ◽  
Ya-Ling He ◽  
Yin-Shi Li ◽  
Wen-Quan Tao

Obstructed flow around single and two paratactic circular cylinders were investigated with two-dimensional molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) methods in the view of discrete particles. The transient and time-averaged profiles of streamline and density were obtained in order to analyze the characteristics of the wake flow. For single cylinder case, different flow patterns, i.e. Stokes flow, steady vortices flow, periodic vortices-shedding flow with the Ka´rma´n vortex street and supersonic flow, were divided based on Reynolds number (Re), 4<Re<12, 12<Re<20, 20<Re<62 and Re>62 respectively. For two paratactic cylinders case, different flow patterns, namely periodic vortices-shedding flow, periodic vortices-shedding flow with gap-flow, bistable flow and synchronized vortex-shedding flow, were observed with different center-to-center pitch ratios (D*/d*), D*/d* = 1.0, 1.0<D*/d*<1.1, 1.1<D*/d*<1.8 and D*/d*>1.8 respectively. The results show qualitative or quantitative agreement with those obtained from experiments and other MDS and indicate that most macroscopic obstructed flow patterns still exist even in nanoscale.


1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Steinman ◽  
C. Ross Ethier

The development of intimal hyperplasia at the distal anastomosis is the major cause of long-term bypass graft failure. To evaluate the suspected role of hemodynamic factors in the pathogenesis of distal intimal hyperplasia, an understanding of anastomotic flow patterns is essential. Due to the complexity of arterial flow, model studies typically make simplifying assumptions, such as treating the artery and graft walls as rigid. In the present study this restriction is relaxed to consider the effects of vessel wall distensibility on anastomotic flow patterns. Flow was simulated in an idealized 2-D distensible end-to-side anastomosis model, using parameters appropriate for the distal circulation and assuming a purely elastic artery wall. A novel numerical approach was developed in which the wall velocities are solved simultaneously with the fluid and pressure fields, while the wall displacements are treated via an iterative update. Both the rigid and distensible cases indicated the presence of elevated temporal variations and low average magnitudes of wall shear stress at sites known to be susceptible to the development of intimal hyperplasia. At these same sites, large spatial gradients of wall shear stress were also noted. Comparison between distensible-walled and corresponding rigid-walled simulations showed moderate changes in wall shear stress at isolated locations, primarily the bed, toe and heel. For example, in the case of a distensible geometry and a physiologic pressure waveform, the heel experienced a 38 percent increase in cycle-averaged shear stress, with a corresponding 15 percent reduction in shear stress variability, both relative to the corresponding values in the rigid-walled case. However, other than at these isolated locations, only minor changes in overall wall shear stress patterns were observed. While the physiological implications of such changes in wall shear stress are not known, it is suspected that the effects of wall distensibility are less pronounced than those brought about by changes in arterial geometry and flow conditions.


1984 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-132
Author(s):  
N.W.M. Ko

This paper describes an experimental investigation of a jet of Mach number 0.5 which is partially interrupted by an 180° sharp edge. Detailed Schlieren and pressure spectral measurements of the jet with the sharp edge located at different locations inside the jet have indicated the presence of the basic jet coherent structure, the axisymmetrical and azimuthal constituents and the resonances set up by the interaction of the jet flow and sharp edge. The resonances arc due not only to the interaction of the initial shear layer with the acoustic feedback from the basic coherent structure but also with the acoustic feedback from the wake vortices set up in the wake flow behind the sharp edge. For the former, dependence of the level of resonance on location of the sharp edge has also been found.


2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1725) ◽  
pp. 3670-3678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke E. Flammang ◽  
George V. Lauder ◽  
Daniel R. Troolin ◽  
Tyson Strand

Understanding how moving organisms generate locomotor forces is fundamental to the analysis of aerodynamic and hydrodynamic flow patterns that are generated during body and appendage oscillation. In the past, this has been accomplished using two-dimensional planar techniques that require reconstruction of three-dimensional flow patterns. We have applied a new, fully three-dimensional, volumetric imaging technique that allows instantaneous capture of wake flow patterns, to a classic problem in functional vertebrate biology: the function of the asymmetrical (heterocercal) tail of swimming sharks to capture the vorticity field within the volume swept by the tail. These data were used to test a previous three-dimensional reconstruction of the shark vortex wake estimated from two-dimensional flow analyses, and show that the volumetric approach reveals a different vortex wake not previously reconstructed from two-dimensional slices. The hydrodynamic wake consists of one set of dual-linked vortex rings produced per half tail beat. In addition, we use a simple passive shark-tail model under robotic control to show that the three-dimensional wake flows of the robotic tail differ from the active tail motion of a live shark, suggesting that active control of kinematics and tail stiffness plays a substantial role in the production of wake vortical patterns.


2016 ◽  
Vol 799 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Prosser ◽  
Marilyn J. Smith

Three-dimensional bluff body aerodynamics are pertinent across a broad range of engineering disciplines. In three-dimensional bluff body flows, shear layer behaviour has a primary influence on the surface pressure distributions and, therefore, the integrated forces and moments. There currently exists a significant gap in understanding of the flow around canonical three-dimensional bluff bodies such as rectangular prisms and short circular cylinders. High-fidelity numerical experiments using a hybrid turbulence closure that resolves large eddies in separated wakes close this gap and provide new insights into the unsteady behaviour of these bodies. A time-averaging technique that captures the mean shear layer behaviours in these unsteady turbulent flows is developed, and empirical characterizations are developed for important quantities, including the shear layer reattachment distance, the separation bubble pressure, the maximum reattachment pressure, and the stagnation point location. Many of these quantities are found to exhibit a universal behaviour that varies only with the incidence angle and face shape (flat or curved) when an appropriate normalization is applied.


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