Upstream Cylinder Research Articles

Numerical investigation of synthetic jet effects on vortex-induced vibrations in tandem circular cylinders

ABSTRACT The influence of symmetric synthetic jets, on the upstream cylinder's (Cylinder 1's) leeward side on VIVs of tandem circular cylinders, was numerically investigated at Re = 150, m* = 2.0. The amplitude responses, frequency responses, hydrodynamic forces and wake patterns were analysed in the reduced velocity U* range of 3.0–14.0. The results indicated that synthetic jets with sufficient momentum coefficients (C u = 2.0 and 4.0) could suppress transverse oscillations of both cylinders, resulting in a symmetric +2S wake pattern. While the standard deviations of lift coefficients for Cylinder 1 decreased accordingly, the time-averaged drag coefficients of both cylinders didn't always follow suit. Complex wake patterns, including 2S + 2S, 2P + 2S, 2P + 2P, 2(P + S) + 2P and 2(P + S) + 2(P + S), were observed when synthetic jets can't dominate Cylinder 1's vortex shedding. Galloping responses of both cylinders can also be initiated.

Improvement of mixing performance in laminar micromixers utilizing vortex-induced vibration of two circular cylinders

Micromixers have found extensive applications in various fields such as engineering, biomedicine, medical and chemistry. The utilization of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of bluff bodies can greatly enhance fluid mixing in micromixers. This study focuses on numerically investigating the interaction between vortex-induced vibration of two cylinders, labeled Cyl-S (stationary cylinder) and Cyl-V (vibrating cylinder), and the mixing performance of micromixers. Specifically, the study examines the effects of spacing ratio (S/D) and vibration system configurations (Cyls-S+S, Cyls-S+V, and Cyls-V+V) on vibration response, near-wake structure, mixing concentration, and mixing index. The results indicate that the spacing ratio directly influences the vibration response of the cylinders, thereby significantly impacting the mixing performance. For the Cyls-V+V configuration, the downstream cylinder exhibits a considerably higher vibration amplitude compared to the upstream cylinder. Increasing the S/D ratio substantially improves the mixing effect in the Cyls-S+S configuration. For the Cyls-S+V and Cyls-V+V configurations, the enhancement of mixing due to VIV is particularly noticeable when S/D ratios of 2 and 3 are employed. The mixing index for Cyls-V+V is higher than that for Cyls-S+V within the range of 3 ≤ U⁎ ≤ 5 (where U* represents the reduced velocity). At a reduced velocity of U⁎ = 4 for Cyls-V+V, the optimal mixing indexs are found to be 0.77 (S/D = 2), 0.76 (S/D = 3), 0.78 (S/D = 4), and 0.77 (S/D = 5), respectively. However, when U⁎ = 6–10, the mixing index decreases due to the vibration of the cylinder is suppressed. Additionally, the Cyls-V+V configuration exhibits a significantly higher pressure drop within the flow channel compared to the Cyls-S+V configuration.

Flow-induced vibration and heat transfer characteristics of three elliptical cylinders arranged in an isosceles triangle

This study investigates the flow-induced vibration (FIV) and heat transfer behavior of three heated cylinders arranged in an isosceles triangle configuration at a Reynolds number of 100. A dynamic model for the FIV of two-dimensional, elastically supported cylinders was developed using computational fluid dynamics simulations and overset mesh technology. The effects of aspect ratio (AR) and angle of attack (α) were examined by varying α from 30° to 90° and AR from 0.75 to 2.0, with AR = 1.0 corresponding to a circular cross section. To study FIV, the two-degree-of-freedom motion of the cylinders was analyzed across a range of reduced velocities (Ur = 2–12). The results indicate that as α increases, the impact of the upstream cylinder's wake on the downstream cylinders gradually weakens, resulting in lower vibration amplitudes and higher heat transfer rates for the downstream cylinders. Notably, when α reaches 90°, the streamwise amplitude becomes almost negligible. At α = 30° and 45°, the average Nusselt number of the downstream cylinder is generally lower than that of the upstream cylinder. However, when α reaches 60°, the average Nusselt number of the downstream cylinders becomes noticeably higher than that of the upstream cylinder. As the aspect ratio increases, the lock-in region of the cylinders shifts from being concentrated at Ur = 6 and 8 to Ur = 4 and 6, indicating that the increase in aspect ratio raises the vortex shedding frequency.

Numerical simulations for the flow-induced vibrations of tandem dual flexible circular cylinders

The three-dimensional large-eddy-simulation coupled with a mode superposition method was applied to numerically simulate the flow-induced vibrations (FIVs) of tandem dual flexible cylinders at Re = 1000 with three different spacing ratios (Sx/D = 2.5, 3.5, and 5, Sx is center-to-center spacing for tandem cylinders, and D is the diameter of the cylinder), corresponding to the reattachment flow, transition flow, and co-shedding flow regimes in stationary tandem cylinders, respectively. The effects of Sx/D on structural vibrations, flow fields, distributions of the surface pressures, and energy properties were investigated to reveal the mechanism for the FIV. Increasing Sx/D weakens the influence of the upstream cylinder on maximum response amplitudes and lock-in region for downstream cylinder. The wake patterns for tandem flexible cylinders are more complex compared to stationary or vibrated rigid tandem cylinders. The shielding effect reduces surface pressure on the downstream cylinder significantly when its vibrations are smaller, leading to a decrease in mean power as well. Furthermore, different mechanisms contribute to amplified FIV in downstream cylinders depending on Sx/D: when Sx/D = 2.5, the upstream vortices collide with the downstream cylinder's front surface and merge with the vortices generated by the downstream cylinder, increasing negative pressure on both front and rear surfaces of the downstream cylinders and promoting FIV; however when Sx/D =3.5 and 5, a binary vortex street forms behind the downstream cylinder without obvious negative pressures on its front surface, the dominant causes of FIV are primarily attributed to interactions among upstream and downstream vortices.

Experimental investigation on vortex-induced vibration characteristics of the dual parallel suspenders

This study investigates vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) on dual parallel suspenders using wind tunnel experiments and employs a two-degree-of-freedom setup for each circular cylinder to closely simulate actual structural conditions. The VIV responses of dual cylinders exhibit notable deviations and complexity due to aerodynamic interaction. Results indicate a significant shift in the VIV lock-in range towards higher values for dual cylinders, compared to single ones. Both upstream and downstream cylinders demonstrate lower maximum VIV amplitudes than the single-cylinder. The cylinders exhibit effects of negative aerodynamic damping within the VIV process, with the aerodynamic damping becoming more pronounced as amplitude increases. Additionally, the time-dependent phase relationship between the cylinders contributes to these variations in response. Further analysis of surface wind pressure distribution reveals that aerodynamic interference in dual-cylinder systems leads to intricate pressure patterns and modal behaviors.

Vortex-induced vibrations of three rigidly coupled circular cylinders in an equilateral-triangular arrangement

A three-cylinder system in an equilateral-triangular arrangement is a common, basic structure in the engineering field, and the rigid connection of multiple cylinders has been applied in some practical projects. In this paper, three cylinders in an equilateral triangle arrangement for a spacing ratio of 4 at Reynolds number of 200 are studied by means of numerical simulation. The vibration modes are divided into single cylinder vibration, three freely vibrating vibration and three rigidly coupled vibration. The vortex-induced vibration characteristics and aerodynamic forces and fluid–structure-interaction mechanisms are analyzed. The results show that the vibration velocity regions and the amplitude of three freely vibrating cylinders in the transverse and streamwise directions are obviously larger than that of a single cylinder. The rigid connection measures can effectively suppress the vibration velocity region and amplitude. However, this suppression effect is no better than the single cylinder. In the lock-in region, the trajectories of three rigidly coupled cylinders are regular closed shapes. The Strouhal numbers of the three cylinders are synchronous in the natural frequency in the lock-in region. The wake vortices from the upstream cylinders affect the downstream cylinders, which depends on different case and reduced velocity. The complex aerodynamic interference and parallel vortices of the wake enhance the vibration of the structure in some cases.

Numerical investigation of fluid flow and heat transfer of a nanofluid around two circular cylinders arranged in tandem in horizontal duct

In this study, two-dimensional unsteady laminar convective heat transfer from two isothermal cylinders arranged in tandem in horizontal duct has been numerically investigated. The numerical study is performed by solving the governing equations (continuity and momentum) and energy equations using a finite volume-based code ANSYS Fluent. The present study was conducted using nano sized copper particles suspended in water. The Prandtl number Pr of the resulting suspension being equal to 7. The range of solid volume fractions studied is and the flow Reynolds number is equal to 100.The spacing ratio of the two cylinders was varied from 2 to 5 while the blockage ratio was kept constant β=0.25. A detailed discussion has been provided regarding the variation of flow structure and the characteristics of flow, including total drag and lift coefficients, as a function of the dimensionless parametersIn order to visualize the flow and heat transport, streamlines, vorticity contours and isotherms were generated. In addition, the local and average Nusselt numbers for the upstream and downstream cylinders are calculated. The results demonstrate that the force coefficients, the wake structure behind the cylinders, and the Nusselt number are significantly influenced by the value of the spacing ratio and the volume fractions of nanoparticles. The results demonstrate a significant enhancement in heat transfer efficiency relative to the base fluid. The aforementioned improvement is more pronounced in the case of higher gap ratios and higher nanoparticle volume fractions.

Flow induced vibration with forced convection of a stationary and oscillating filleted bluff bodies in a staggered position

Flow induced vibration (FIV) and forced convection heat transfer from staggered cylinders are numerically investigated with Re = 150 and Pr = 0.7. Cylinders are arranged in a staggered manner with three different stagger angles (α) = 15°, 30°, and 45°. The upstream cylinder (UC) is kept fixed while the downstream cylinder (DC) is mounted. The cross section of the bluff body is altered by parameter (r*) = 0 (square cylinder), 0.5, 0.75, and 1 (circular cylinder). For every stagger angle and r*, the reduced velocity is varied from 2 to 10. The mass ratio (m*) of the DC is kept at 10 and damping constant set to zero for maximum vibrational amplitude. The incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are coupled with Newton's equation for the mass-damper system of the vibrating cylinder. Flow induced vibration was studied with the help of frequency characteristics, dynamics response of cylinders, and instantaneous phase plots of lift and amplitude. Generally, in the case of square cylinders a delayed response can be observed as compared to other configurations. For α=15°, the DC is fully submerged into the wake of static UC. P + S (P: pair; S: singlet)-type vortices can be observed for r* = 0. For other configurations of filleted cylinders, such as r* = 0.5, 0.75, and 1 at Ur=4, 2 parallel row formation is formed due to negative sign vortices while the other one was a combination of positive and negative vortices in pseudo-P formation. At higher Ur=6 and 8, coalesced and irregular wakes can be noticed. As the stagger angle is increased to higher than 30°, the wake of both cylinders becomes more pronounced. Due to the change in stagger angle, fs (vortex shedding frequency) of UC and DC forces decouples. 2P-type vortex shedding can be observed at Ur=4 for r* = 0.75 and 1. Pairs of vortices are coupled from each cylinder in a row where negative vortices coalesce while losing energy. For lower r* = 0 and 0.5, there is a tendency for three row formation. Further increase in angle pushed the DC completely out of the wake of the UC although vortices from both cylinders are still found to interact and exhibit three row formation and 2P-type vortex shedding. Heat transfer from the DC is highly dependent on the stagger angle. For r* = 1 and 0.5 at Ur=2, the change in Nuavg is 15% and 14.7%, respectively, when the angle changed from 15° to 45°. Heat transfer from any FIV system can be directly influenced by dynamic response, position, shape, and flow topology. The generated results are provide insight for understanding the vibrational modes and heat transfer from two bluff bodies involving fluid–structure interactions.

Flow over two inline rough cylinders in the postcritical regime

This study investigates the flow behavior over roughened inline cylinders for postcritical flow, a parameter space with relatively little prior scrutiny. Two cylinders of the same relative surface roughness, ks/D=1.9×10−3, separated by a pitch (i.e., L, distance between the centers of two cylinders) between 1.175≤L/D≤10 are studied at Reynolds numbers from 3×105 to 6×105 using unsteady surface pressure measurements. As pitch ratio is increased from L/D=1.175, CD of the downstream cylinder increases sharply at (L/D)c=3.25. This critical pitch ratio (L/D)c is toward the lower end of the reported range for subcritical smooth cylinders. Asymmetric mean gap flow along with alternating reattachment is found for 1.5≤L/D<2.25 (i.e., two asymmetric modes in the gap, mode 1 and mode 2, that are the reflections of each other), and symmetric gap flow with a continuous reattachment is found for 2.25<L/D≤3. The gap flow is also symmetric for the closest pitch ratio tested of L/D=1.175. While the change in upstream cylinder drag coefficient with Reynolds number broadly follows that of an isolated cylinder, for the downstream cylinder, it is approximately independent. The critical separation is also insensitive to Reynolds number within 3×105≤Re≤6×105. Transitions between the reattachment and the co-shedding flow are predominantly continuous over the spanwise planes tested. On the other hand, alternating reattachment occurs in spanwise cells, where one sectional measurement exhibits the asymmetric mode 1 while a spanwise-adjacent section exhibits the asymmetric mode 2 or even symmetric flow. Previously reported maxima in the fluctuating lift and drag coefficients of the downstream cylinder at L/D≈2.4 at subcritical Reynolds numbers are absent in the current investigation.

The Suppression of Flow-Induced Vibrations for a Single and Two Tandem-Arrangement Cylinders Using Three Splitter Plates

Some very useful methods for suppressing the flow-induced vibration (FIV) of a single cylinder are known to potentially have a limited efficiency for tandem-arrangement cylinders. In this paper, three splitter plates uniformly attached around a cylinder with an angle of 120° are proposed to suppress the FIVs of both a single cylinder and two tandem-arrangement cylinders in a wind tunnel at Re = 4000–45,200. The splitter plates’ length to diameter ratios, L/Ds (where L is the length of the splitter plate and D is the cylinder diameter), are set from 0.1 to 0.8. The results show that the proposed method not only effectively suppresses the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) for a single cylinder, but also successfully mitigates the wake-induced galloping (WIG) for two tandem-arrangement cylinders. The vibrations of the single cylinders are effectively suppressed, consistently achieving suppression efficiencies over 95% for L/Ds = 0.2–0.8, with a notable peak efficiency of 98.4% at L/D = 0.2. For the two tandem-arrangement cylinders at S/D = 4.0 (where S is the center-to-center spacing between the two cylinders), the suppression efficiencies of the upstream cylinder exceed 96% for L/D = 0.2–0.8, with an optimal efficiency of 97.4% at L/D = 0.6. The downstream cylinder exhibits vibration only at L/Ds = 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4, resulting in suppression efficiencies of 80.3%, 67.1%, and 91.0%. The vibrations remain fully suppressed throughout the entire reduced velocity range for L/Ds = 0.6–0.8, reaching an optimal efficiency of 98.7% at L/D = 0.6. Three regimes of fs/fn characteristics can be classified for the single cylinder, and the wake structures show that shear layers develop along the front plate before attaching on the cylinder and are then offset to either side of the cylinder by the two rear splitter plates, contributing to the absence of periodic vortex shedding.

Aerodynamic noise characteristics of tandem cylinders in a subcritical flow regime

The present experimental study investigates the noise generated from the subcritical flow past two tandem circular cylinders of different downstream-to-upstream diameter ratios ( d 2 /d 1). The configurations considered for the study are (A) d 2 /d 1 = 1, (B) d 2 /d 1 = 2.5 and (C) d 2 /d 1 = 0.4. The gap between cylinders has spacing to diameter ratios ( s/d) of 2 and 4, and the free stream Reynolds numbers vary from 8.4 × 103 to 3.6 × 104. At s/d = 2, acoustic tones from configurations A and B are associated with vortex shedding from the downstream cylinder, and configuration-C has broadband spectral variations. At s/d = 4, configuration-B has two acoustic tones corresponding to vortex shedding from both cylinders, with dominant higher-frequency tones from the smaller upstream cylinder, and Configuration-C has narrowband tones from the larger upstream cylinder. The mean wake velocities of configurations at s/d = 4 are lower, with relatively higher gradients than at s/d = 2. The corresponding turbulence levels are 8.3% and 6.5%, respectively. Peak tonal frequencies have a linear variation with free stream velocity, and the respective Strouhal numbers estimated are in the range from 0.17 to 0.20. Scaling of the spectra with sixth power of the free stream velocity shows the dipole behavior of noise sources. The tandem configurations have higher overall noise levels than the background noise by up to 26 dB at s/d = 2 and 21 dB at s/d = 4. Configuration-A at s/d = 2 has the highest noise level of 91 dB.

Interference Effects on Flow-Induced Oscillation of Three Tandem Cylinders With Passive Turbulence Control

Abstract The characteristics of flow-induced oscillation (FIO) of multiple tandem cylinders with passive turbulence control (PTC) change due to interference between PTC cylinders. Identifying positive and negative interferences is vital for designing marine structures involving PTC cylinders on elastic supports. Experiments on a single PTC cylinder, two PTC cylinders and three PTC cylinders in tandem were conducted to study the interferences due to placing an identical oscillating PTC cylinder upstream, downstream, and both upstream and downstream. Critical parameters (damping, stiffness) and Reynolds number (Re) are varied in the tests. The onset inflow velocity of oscillation is reduced and back-to-back vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and galloping is achieved, when placing interference cylinders in the vicinity of the basic oscillator. The interference due to the downstream cylinder enhances FIO of the basic oscillator. In the VIV region, one interference downstream cylinder is more effective than two interference downstream cylinders. In the galloping region, the enhancement improves for two interference cylinders for lower stiffness and damping ratios. The interference upstream cylinder tends to suppress FIO of the basic oscillator for higher stiffness. The suppression of one upstream cylinder is more vigorous than that of two upstream cylinders in the VIV region, and the opposite is true in the galloping region. When two interference cylinders are placed both downstream and upstream of the basic oscillator, its FIO is enhanced for the lower stiffness whilst it is suppressed for the higher stiffness.

Direct numerical simulation study on convective heat transfer of two tandem permeable square cylinders

This study focuses on two-dimensional heat transfer and unsteady flow past two tandem heated porous square cylinders using lattice Boltzmann method combined with block-structured topology-confined mesh refinement. The effects of the Reynolds number (30≤Re≤150), the Darcy number (10−5≤Da≤10−2), and spacing ratio (1.5≤L/D≤5, where L and D are distance of two adjacent cylinder centers and square cylinder length, respectively) are investigated. The intended analysis links hydrodynamic and heat transfer coefficients and wake structures in parameter space of Re−Da−L/D to fluid mechanics. For upstream cylinder, drag coefficients decrease with a reduction of Da and range of Re≥100, while wake length increases with an increment of L/D ratio at the same range of Re. Time-averaged normalized velocity increases at higher permeability levels. A significant augmentation in a time-averaged Nusselt number is reported for an increase in Da and full L/D range. For downstream cylinder, the interaction of fluid vortices in the gap between the cylinders affects the flow pattern, causing irregularities in the drag coefficient variation. The impacts of L/D on the wake length is more obvious than that of Da. Both the wake length and time-averaged Nusselt number values are proportional to an increase in L/D. Consequently, all the investigated results of the upstream cylinder are significantly altered from those of the downstream cylinder due to the shadowing effect of the upstream cylinder.

Numerical simulation of wake flow around two square cylinders through passive control method

Two-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to study the effect of height of control plates placed at the downstream location in a vertical direction of a channel for flow past two inline square cylinders. The numerical method used is the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and Reynolds number is kept constant at Re = 150 (Re = Uinf d/ν) for fixed gap spacing g = 3.5 (g = s/d). The height of the control plate varies from h = 0.1 to 8. First, the validity of code for the present problem and suitable grid points are checked along the selection of uniform inflow velocity. After that verification, the numerical simulations are performed to obtain the results under the effect of height of control plates using the passive control method. Calculated results are, in terms of vorticity contour, drag and lift coefficients, pressure contour, energy spectrum, and force statistics. Under the discussion of vorticity contour visualization, we obtained six types of flow mode and named them according to flow behavior and their characteristics. In pressure contour, it is visualized that the maximum pressure occurred at near the upstream position of the first cylinder as well as the upper and lower edge of the main cylinder as compared to the downstream cylinder and control plate, but at some position inside the domain, pressure contour contained negative values as well in between the gap of two square cylinders and control plate. In force statistics, we computed the values of Cdmean, Cdrms, Clrms, and St. Mean drag coefficients for both upstream cylinder (C1) and downstream cylinder (C2) are increased as the height of the control plate increased from 0.1 to 1.5, but as the height of the control plate reached its maximum value, the value of Cdmean turned toward the decline. The maximum value of Cdmean obtained at h = 2.25 and the minimum value occurred at h = 8. For cylinder C2, negative values for some selected heights such as h = 0.1–1.25 and h = 4–8 are also observed because of thrust. The value of the Strouhal number for both the cylinders C1 and C2 are similar at h = 0.1–4.5, but at h = 5, the values of the Strouhal number differ for both cylinders, but at the largest values of control plate's height, i.e., h = 6–8, the Strouhal number contains zero values for both cylinders C1 and C2. At these zero values of the Strouhal number, in vorticity contour jet type of flow mode is observed at h = 6–8, as a new flow mode, which is not identified before in the passive control method for flow past two or more square cylinders.

Effect of Flow Interference between Cylinders Subjected to a Cross Flow over a Cluster of Three Equally Spaced Cylinders

In this paper, flow over a cluster of three equally spaced circular cylinders was studied by numerical simulation based on the turbulence model k-kl-ω for two incidence angles β = 0° and 60°, at different Reynolds numbers, and flow interference pattern characteristics between cylinders, characteristics of force parameters, and Strouhal number of each cylinder with different spacing ratios ranging from 1.5 to 4 at Re 8 × 104, 2 × 105 and 2 × 106 were obtained. Analyzing the flow field around three cylinders, the following results have been obtained: (1) at incidence angle β = 0° and 60°, the wake was nearly symmetrical if S/D ≥ 2.0; (2) at β = 60°, S/D = 1.5, and Re = 2 × 105, an asymmetric periodic flow pattern occurred in the wake region which produced a significant effect on the surface mechanical parameters and Strouhal number, and this was observed for the first time. The periodic flow regime of the wake region also occurred at S/D = 1.35 and 1.5, without the same phenomenon at S/D = 1.7 and 2.0; this phenomenon is described for the first time in this paper; (3) the phenomenon of periodic flow regime in the wake region was intrinsic and related to Reynolds number and space ratio. In addition, the characteristics of force parameters of three cylinders were mainly affected by the interference between cylinders, at 1.5 < S/D < 4, which indicated that the drag coefficient of three cylinders reduces with different Reynolds numbers and increases with enlargement of the spacing ratio for upstream cylinders at incidence angle 0°. At incidence angle 60° and S/D = 1.5~4, the Strouhal number decreases with the enlargement of spacing ratio for the upstream cylinders, but the Strouhal number increases for the downstream cylinder, which is another prominent flow interference influence. The results indicated the effect of flow interference between cylinders subjected to a cross flow over a cluster of three equally spaced cylinders, considering the flow pattern, surface mechanical parameters and Strouhal number, which should be considered in the establishment of standard design codes in fields such as offshore wind turbine engineering for flow interference around groups of cylinders.

Flow control over tandem cylinders using plasma actuators

The flow over two circular cylinders, arranged in a tandem setup, is controlled with the help of dielectric-barrier-discharge (DBD) plasma actuators mounted on the upstream cylinder at a Reynolds number (Re) of 4700. The plasma actuators are mounted at ±80∘ from the forward stagnation point of the upstream cylinder. Three tandem configurations are tested, where the distance, L, by which the cylinder centers are separated are fixed at 3, 4, and 5 cylinder diameters (D). For each configuration, the plasma actuators are operated at two distinct blowing ratios (BR) of 0.8 and 1.4, which are named as the low-power and high-power forcing cases, respectively. Results include static-pressure measurements on the downstream cylinder and wake surveys using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). High-power forcing changes the flow pattern in the L=3D upstream wake from reattached to co-shedding flow, enabling alternating vortex shedding to occur between the tandem cylinders. High-power forcing also significantly weakens vortex shedding from the upstream cylinder for L=4D and L=5D. This weakening is manifested through 39.27% and 35.32% reductions in the total area of vorticity contours for L=4D and L=5D, respectively. However, the effect of this cancellation is most prominent on the downstream cylinder when the separation distance is L/D=3. During forcing with BR = 1.4, the static pressure on the downstream cylinder resembles that of a flow over a regular cylinder for all the cases tested. Hence, at this blowing ratio, the wake signature of the upstream cylinder is severely diminished, by delaying the shear-layer separation point. During forcing with BR = 0.8, no significant effect on the downstream cylinder is observed.

Numerical Studies on the Hydrodynamic Patterns and Energy-Saving Advantages of Fish Swimming in Vortical Flows of an Upstream Cylinder

Numerical Studies on the Hydrodynamic Patterns and Energy-Saving Advantages of Fish Swimming in Vortical Flows of an Upstream Cylinder

Numerical investigation of the heat transfer and flow pattern on tandem triangle-grooved cylinders

Modifying surface characteristics and geometric structure to regulate heat transfer and flow fields is a classical issue. The study of wake dynamics and heat transfer efficiency in tandem grooved cylinders hold fundamental importance. This research proposes a configuration of tandem cylinders with triangle-grooved surfaces and numerical simulates the vorticity, fluid forces, Strouhal numbers, and convective heat transfer in tandem grooved cylinders. The parameters investigated include orientation angles θ = 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90° and Reynolds numbers Re = 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200. This study focuses on how the triangle-grooved angle (θ) and Re affect wake dynamics and thermal performance. Numerical results are validated against available data in the literature for tandem smooth and tandem grooved cylinders. The results indicate that, compared to tandem smooth cylinders, the positive vorticity intensity of tandem grooved cylinders is 35.7 % higher, while the negative vorticity intensity is 23.5 % lower. Further observations show that at θ = 45°, the pressure variation on the upstream cylinder is most significant, approximately twice that at θ = 0° and θ = 90°. Notably, the variation values of the downstream cylinder (β = 0°) at θ = 0° and θ = 45° are triple and double that of the upstream cylinder in TF mode, respectively. Additionally, at θ = 0°, the root mean square lift coefficient of the downstream cylinder reaches the maximum value (Re = 75–100), approximately 1.34. When Re = 125, CL(rms),1 decreases by 15.7 % to 1.13. Particularly, when Re = 100–150, the time-averaged drag coefficient of the downstream cylinder shows a peak value of approximately 1.02. Interestingly, at Re = 200, a tadpole-shaped thermal distribution forms in the wake region of the upstream cylinder. Furthermore, the time-averaged Nusselt number ratio (θ = 0°) exhibits a trend opposite to other cases over a broader range (125 ≤ Re ≤ 200) and peaks at Re = 200, approximately 1.24.

Event Based Cameras: A Comparative Study For Fluid Event Detection

A feasibility study using an event-based camera for the detection of plane-wise motion of a 2D array of bio-inspired sensing pillars to detect generated flow events. EBCs show potential for future applications where PIV may have been classically used. They have the benefit of only generating data when an event happens and with comparatively cheaper setups, they hold great potential for flow monitoring. EBCs collect pixel x and y locations, as well as pixel contrast change data at each time there is an event and can be trained on regions of interest. Comparative experiments were carried out in the labs at City, University of London, to investigate the feasibility of using EBCs for the detection of generated large flow structures in both air and water. The disturbances were produced by a gust generator, an upstream cylinder and an air gun for a variety of controlled situations, such as disturbances caused by gusts, crossflows and wake downstream oscillations. Some results were also compared to known PIV results from our lab to see how EBCs can detect a known flow structure over the sensing pillars. The results presented demonstrate the capability of the pillars and EBC to detect large flow structures. These initial results show promise for future applications of flow monitoring, such as real-time flow monitoring via a machine learning algorithm that is trained to detect certain flow patterns over the sensing pillars. This would be an intermediate step into a fully automated flow control loop.

Experimental investigation of the wake of tandem cylinders using pivoted flapping mechanism for piezoelectric flag

In this paper, the current of ocean at a depth with the velocity of 0.1–0.3 m/s has been studied. The effect of the mounting mechanism of the piezoelectric flag on the energy efficiency of the energy harvester is investigated. The flag is mounted uniquely, and the results are analyzed to explain the underlying mechanism associated with variations in power output. The experiments described extend our previous work and it is the experimental investigation of the baseline case for our previous work. It was found that using a pivoted mounting mechanism caused a significant improvement in flapping amplitude (51%) and dominant frequency (23%). The variation in the flag's distance from the bluff body (Gd) is also investigated. The maximum output for a passively mounted flag was obtained at Gd=2D due to the existence of a vortex core position at the same point where the flag's head was positioned. The same mechanism is implemented for tandem cylinder arrangement. The study found that increasing the distance between the bluff bodies resulted in the suppression of vortex shedding of the upstream cylinder by the rear cylinder. However, this behavior was found to be random and was thoroughly explored in this study. The obtained results were also verified through the flow visualization technique. A comparative analysis is made to show the optimal performance of the harvester by fine-tuning parameters such as the gap between cylinders and piezo flag, flow rate, and flag-mounting technique. The comparative analysis with benchmark cases demonstrated a rise in the A/L ratio by 30.25% and in the flapping frequency by 19.09% in the case of 120° cut C-shaped inverted cylinder upstream, indicating a higher percentage gain of 66% more energy harvesting. An increase of 51.18% in the A/L ratio and 22.79% in flapping frequency with the use of a pivot-mounted piezoelectric flag was observed, indicating higher energy harvesting performance compared to the baseline case (circular cylinder with fixed flag head).