Aerodynamics Study of Flow Past Two Tandem Bluff Bodies at Low Reynolds Number

Abstract

Aerodynamics of flow past two tandem bluff bodies is a critical problem in fluid mechanics. In this work, the flow over two circular cylinders with unequal diameters in tandem arrangement is numerical investigated using lattice Boltzmann method. The diameter of the bigger one is adopted as the characteristic length, the diameter ratio is fixed as 2, and the Reynolds number is 100. Spacing between two cylinders (scaled by the characteristic length) are varied from 0 to 3 characteristic diameter, and the effects of which on the flow patterns of such a system are studied. The results show that flow patterns behind two tandem unequal circular cylinders are significantly different from that behind a single one. Due to the downstream cylinder, two classic vortex interaction modes are observed, known as destruction interaction mode and construction mode.