Wakes of two inline cylinders at a low Reynolds number

Abstract

The effect of vortex impingement on the fluid dynamics around a cylinder submerged in the wake of another of different diameters is numerically investigated at a Reynolds number Re = 200. While the diameter (D) of the downstream cylinder is fixed, impinging vortices are produced from the upstream cylinder diameter (d) varied as d/D = 0.24, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0, with a spacing ratio L = 5.5d, where L is the distance between the center of the upstream cylinder to the front stagnation point of the downstream cylinder. Two-dimensional simulations are carried out using the finite volume method. Fluid forces acting on the two cylinders are correlated with impinging vortices, vortex shedding, and wake structure. Different facets of wake formation, wake structure, and flow separation and their connections to fluid forces are discussed.