Wake-induced vibration of a circular cylinder at a low Reynolds number of 100

Abstract

Wake-induced vibration (WIV) of a circular cylinder in the wake of a stationary bluff body at a low Reynolds number of 100 is numerically investigated in this work. Square prism, rectangular plate, and triangular prism with the same projected width as the diameter of the circular cylinder are employed as the upstream bluff body to examine the effect of obstacle’s shape on the wake interference and WIV. The downstream circular cylinder is allowed to oscillate in both inline and crossflow directions. Three spacing ratios of 2, 4, and 6 are considered in the computations that carried out for a wide range of reduced velocities (Ur = 2–20). In terms of shear layer reattachment, vortex impingement, and wake interference, three distinct flow regimes are identified for the upstream-stationary-downstream-vibrating tandem cylinders, i.e., continuous reattachment regime, alternating reattachment regime, and coshedding regime. The wake flow pattern is sensitive to the spacing ratio and the reduced velocity. Due to the vigorous streamwise response, the gap between the tandem cylinders varies over time and hence the switching of wake regime. Both the hydrodynamic forces and vibration response are tightly associated with the wake interaction. Among the three configurations, the cylinder behind a square prism possesses the largest cross-flow amplitude, while the cylinder behind a plate and that behind a triangular prism present more oscillating characteristics in the response amplitude, due mainly to the unstable and irregular vortex evolution.