Low-frequency dynamics of the flow around a finite-length square cylinder

Abstract

Fluctuating pressure on the side faces, lee-ward face and free end of a finite-length square cylinder is measured simultaneously, together with the velocity in its free-end shear flow, to reveal their inherent connection. The width (d) of the tested model is 40 mm, and the aspect ratio is 5. All experiments are conducted in a low-speed wind tunnel at an oncoming flow velocity (U∞) of 10 m/s. The corresponding Reynolds number based on U∞ and d is 27,000. It is found that, the fluctuating pressure on the side faces and free end has remarkable low-frequency instability with the frequency of about 1/10 of the well-known spanwise Karman vortex shedding. Besides, a high-frequency component, corresponding to Karman vortex shedding, is also found in the fluctuating pressure on cylinder side faces. The low-frequency instability is in phase over the entire cylinder span, while the high-frequency component tends to be out of phase, especially at the lower part of the cylinder. The free-end shear flow flaps at the low frequency and strongly correlates with the modes of spanwise vortex shedding. Particularly, when the free-end shear flow flaps to its lower position, alternate spanwise vortex shedding with high pressure fluctuation occurs; when it flaps to its upper position, the occurrence probability of co-shedding with low pressure fluctuation increases significantly especially near the cylinder free end.