Analysis of aerodynamic forces and flow development with the size of square cylinders arranged in equilateral triangle

Abstract

A two-dimensional in-house code is used to scrutinize the influence of the arrangement of three cylinders and their corresponding dimensions on the behavior of flow around square cylinders arranged in four different combinations. Three square cylinders, C1, C2 and C3, are arranged in an equilateral triangle with the first cylinder C1 positioned upstream while the two remaining cylinders are placed side-by-side downstream. The wake flow patterns, aerodynamic forces and Strouhal number (St) are determined and analyzed for the four-cylinder arrangements in terms of streamlines, iso-vortices and drag and lift coefficients evolutions for steady and unsteady regimes. The numerical outcomes demonstrate that Re values, the different equilateral-triangular arrangements of cylinders, and the dimension variations of each square cylinder have a prominent influence on the flow characteristics.