Simulation of the flow around an upstream transversely oscillating cylinder and a stationary cylinder in tandem

Abstract

The flow around a transversely oscillating cylinder in tandem with a stationary cylinder was studied using the lattice Boltzmann method at Re = 100. The influences of spacing, oscillation frequency, and amplitude on the flow field were investigated in detail. It was found that, when the upstream cylinder oscillates with small amplitude, the flow pattern can be changed significantly from that of its fixed counterpart. First, the stagnation region ceases to exist. Second, the transition from the vortex suppression (VS) regime to the vortex formation (VF) regime appears earlier than when both cylinders are fixed. Moreover, the system has a wider frequency range of lock-in for both tandem cylinders in the VS regime, while the locked frequency range is slightly increased in the VF regime. The locked region of the tandem-paired cylinders is only slightly wider than that of a single oscillating cylinder. When the system is unlocked, different responses occur in the wakes of the two cylinders. Analysis of the power spectral of lift forces, lift phase portraits, and vorticity contours shows that the wake is regular under conditions of small spacing and small oscillating amplitude. However, with larger spacing, higher oscillating frequency or larger amplitude, the oscillation is powerful enough to dominate the flow field, inducing chaotic flow. The drag and lift forces of both oscillating and stationary cylinders are also discussed. The results reveal large differences between the case of one oscillating cylinder and that of two stationary tandem cylinders.