Flow structure behind two staggered circular cylinders. Part 2. Heat and momentum transport

Abstract

This work aims to study flow structures, heat and momentum transport in the wake of two staggered circular cylinders. In order to characterize heat transport in the flow, both cylinders were slightly heated so that heat generated could be treated as a passive scalar. The velocity and temperature fluctuations were simultaneously measured by traversing a three-wire (one cross-wire plus one cold wire) probe across the wake, along with a fixed cross-wire, which acted to provide a reference signal. Four distinct flow structures, i.e. two single-street modes (S-I and S-II) and two twin-street modes (T-I and T-II), are identified based on the phase-averaged vorticity contours, sectional streamlines, and their entrainment characteristics. Mode S-I is characterized by a vortex street approximately antisymmetric about the centreline. This mode is further divided into S-Ia and S-Ib, which differ greatly in the strength of vortices. The vortex street of Mode S-II is significantly asymmetric about the centreline, the strenth of vortices near the downstream cylinder exceeding by 50% that on the other side. Mode T-I consists of two alternately arranged vortex streets; the downstream-cylinder-generated street is significantly stronger than that generated by the upstream cylinder. In contrast, Mode T-II displays two streets approximately antisymmetrical about the wake centreline. Free-stream fluid is almost equally entrained from either side into the wake in Modes S-Ia and T-II, but largely entrained from the downstream cylinder side in Modes S-II and T-I. The entrainment motion in Mode S-Ib is very weak owing to the very weak vortex strength. Vortices decay considerably more rapidly in the twin-street modes, under vigorous interactions between the streets, than in the single-street modes. This rapid decay is particularly evident for the inner vortices near the wake centreline in Modes T-II and T-I. Other than flow structures, heat and momentum transport characteristics are examined in detail. Their possible connection to the initial conditions is also discussed.