scholarly journals Flow past a square-section cylinder with a wavy stagnation face

2001 ◽  
Vol 426 ◽  
pp. 263-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
RUPAD M. DAREKAR ◽  
SPENCER J. SHERWIN

Numerical investigations have been performed for the flow past square-section cylinders with a spanwise geometric deformation leading to a stagnation face with a sinusoidal waviness. The computations were performed using a spectral/hp element solver over a range of Reynolds numbers from 10 to 150.Starting from fully developed shedding past a straight cylinder at a Reynolds number of 100, a sufficiently high waviness is impulsively introduced resulting in the stabilization of the near wake to a time-independent state. It is shown that the spanwise waviness sets up a cross-flow within the growing boundary layer on the leading-edge surface thereby generating streamwise and vertical components of vorticity. These additional components of vorticity appear in regions close to the inflection points of the wavy stagnation face where the spanwise vorticity is weakened. This redistribution of vorticity leads to the breakdown of the unsteady and staggered Kármán vortex wake into a steady and symmetric near-wake structure. The steady nature of the near wake is associated with a reduction in total drag of about 16% at a Reynolds number of 100 compared with the straight, non-wavy cylinder.Further increases in the amplitude of the waviness lead to the emergence of hairpin vortices from the near-wake region. This wake topology has similarities to the wake of a sphere at low Reynolds numbers. The physical structure of the wake due to the variation of the amplitude of the waviness is identified with five distinct regimes. Furthermore, the introduction of a waviness at a wavelength close to the mode A wavelength and the primary wavelength of the straight square-section cylinder leads to the suppression of the Kármán street at a minimal waviness amplitude.

1999 ◽  
Vol 378 ◽  
pp. 19-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. JOHNSON ◽  
V. C. PATEL

The flow of an incompressible viscous fluid past a sphere is investigated numerically and experimentally over flow regimes including steady and unsteady laminar flow at Reynolds numbers of up to 300. Flow-visualization experiments are used to validate the numerical results and to provide additional insight into the behaviour of the flow. Near-wake visualizations are presented for both steady and unsteady flows. Calculations for Reynolds numbers of up to 200 show steady axisymmetric flow and compare well with previous experimental and numerical observations. For Reynolds numbers of 210 to 270, a steady non-axisymmetric regime is found, also in agreement with previous work. To advance the basic understanding of this transition, a symmetry breaking mechanism is proposed based on a detailed analysis of the calculated flow field.Unsteady flow is calculated at Reynolds numbers greater than 270. The results at a Reynolds number of 300 show a highly organized periodic flow dominated by vortex shedding. An analysis of the calculated vortical structure of the wake reveals a sequence of shed hairpin vortices in combination with a sequence of previously unidentified induced hairpin vortices. The numerical results compare favourably with experimental flow visualizations which, interestingly, fail to reveal the induced vortices. Based on the deduced symmetry-breaking mechanism, an analysis of the unsteady kinematics, and the experimental results, a mechanism driving the transition to unsteady flow is proposed.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Kang ◽  
A. Kohli ◽  
K. A. Thole

The leading edge region of a first-stage stator vane experiences high heat transfer rates, especially near the endwall, making it very important to get a better understanding of the formation of the leading edge vortex. In order to improve numerical predictions of the complex endwall flow, benchmark quality experimental data are required. To this purpose, this study documents the endwall heat transfer and static pressure coefficient distribution of a modern stator vane for two different exit Reynolds numbers (Reex = 6 × 105 and 1.2 × 106). In addition, laser-Doppler velocimeter measurements of all three components of the mean and fluctuating velocities are presented for a plane in the leading edge region. Results indicate that the endwall heat transfer, pressure distribution, and flowfield characteristics change with Reynolds number. The endwall pressure distributions show that lower pressure coefficients occur at higher Reynolds numbers due to secondary flows. The stronger secondary flows cause enhanced heat transfer near the trailing edge of the vane at the higher Reynolds number. On the other hand, the mean velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and vorticity results indicate that leading edge vortex is stronger and more turbulent at the lower Reynolds number. The Reynolds number also has an effect on the location of the separation point, which moves closer to the stator vane at lower Reynolds numbers.


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lamyaa A. El-Gabry ◽  
Deborah A. Kaminski

Abstract Measurements of the local heat transfer distribution on smooth and roughened surfaces under an array of angled impinging jets are presented. The test rig is designed to simulate impingement with cross-flow in one direction which is a common method for cooling gas turbine components such as the combustion liner. Jet angle is varied between 30, 60, and 90 degrees as measured from the impingement surface, which is either smooth or randomly roughened. Liquid crystal video thermography is used to capture surface temperature data at five different jet Reynolds numbers ranging between 15,000 and 35,000. The effect of jet angle, Reynolds number, gap, and surface roughness on heat transfer efficiency and pressure loss is determined along with the various interactions among these parameters. Peak heat transfer coefficients for the range of Reynolds number from 15,000 to 35,000 are highest for orthogonal jets impinging on roughened surface; peak Nu values for this configuration ranged from 88 to 165 depending on Reynolds number. The ratio of peak to average Nu is lowest for 30-degree jets impinging on roughened surfaces. It is often desirable to minimize this ratio in order to decrease thermal gradients, which could lead to thermal fatigue. High thermal stress can significantly reduce the useful life of engineering components and machinery. Peak heat transfer coefficients decay in the cross-flow direction by close to 24% over a dimensionless length of 20. The decrease of spanwise average Nu in the crossflow direction is lowest for the case of 30-degree jets impinging on a roughened surface where the decrease was less than 3%. The decrease is greatest for 30-degree jet impingement on a smooth surface where the stagnation point Nu decreased by more than 23% for some Reynolds numbers.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Arnal ◽  
D. J. Goering ◽  
J. A. C. Humphrey

The characteristics of the flow around a bluff body of square cross-section in contact with a solid-wall boundary are investigated numerically using a finite difference procedure. Previous studies (Taneda, 1965; Kamemoto et al., 1984) have shown qualitatively the strong influence of solid-wall boundaries on the vortex-shedding process and the formation of the vortex street downstream. In the present study three cases are investigated which correspond to flow past a square rib in a freestream, flow past a rib on a fixed wall and flow past a rib on a sliding wall. Values of the Reynolds number studied ranged from 100 to 2000, where the Reynolds number is based on the rib height, H, and bulk stream velocity, Ub. Comparisons between the sliding-wall and fixed-wall cases show that the sliding wall has a significant destabilizing effect on the recirculation region behind the rib. Results show the onset of unsteadiness at a lower Reynolds number for the sliding-wall case (50 ≤ Recrit ≤100) than for the fixed-wall case (Recrit≥100). A careful examination of the vortex-shedding process reveals similarities between the sliding-wall case and both the freestream and fixed-wall cases. At moderate Reynolds numbers (Re≥250) the sliding-wall results show that the rib periodically sheds vortices of alternating circulation in much the same manner as the rib in a freestream; as in, for example, Davis and Moore [1982]. The vortices are distributed asymmetrically downstream of the rib and are not of equal strength as in the freestream case. However, the sliding-wall case shows no tendency to develop cycle-to-cycle variations at higher Reynolds numbers, as observed in the freestream and fixed-wall cases. Thus, while the moving wall causes the flow past the rib to become unsteady at a lower Reynolds number than in the fixed-wall case, it also acts to stabilize or “lock-in” the vortex-shedding frequency. This is attributed to the additional source of positive vorticity immediately downstream of the rib on the sliding wall.


2016 ◽  
Vol 804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anikesh Pal ◽  
Sutanu Sarkar ◽  
Antonio Posa ◽  
Elias Balaras

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) are performed to study the behaviour of flow past a sphere in the regime of high stratification (low Froude number $Fr$). In contrast to previous results at lower Reynolds numbers, which suggest monotone suppression of turbulence with increasing stratification in flow past a sphere, it is found that, below a critical $Fr$, increasing the stratification induces unsteady vortical motion and turbulent fluctuations in the near wake. The near wake is quantified by computing the energy spectra, the turbulence energy equation, the partition of energy into horizontal and vertical components, and the buoyancy Reynolds number. These diagnostics show that the stabilizing effect of buoyancy changes flow over the sphere to flow around the sphere. This qualitative change in the flow leads to a new regime of unsteady vortex shedding in the horizontal planes and intensified horizontal shear which result in turbulence regeneration.


2016 ◽  
Vol 792 ◽  
pp. 682-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O. John ◽  
Dominik Obrist ◽  
Leonhard Kleiser

The leading-edge boundary layer (LEBL) in the front part of swept airplane wings is prone to three-dimensional subcritical instability, which may lead to bypass transition. The resulting increase of airplane drag and fuel consumption implies a negative environmental impact. In the present paper, we present a temporal biglobal secondary stability analysis (SSA) and direct numerical simulations (DNS) of this flow to investigate a subcritical transition mechanism. The LEBL is modelled by the swept Hiemenz boundary layer (SHBL), with and without wall suction. We introduce a pair of steady, counter-rotating, streamwise vortices next to the attachment line as a generic primary disturbance. This generates a high-speed streak, which evolves slowly in the streamwise direction. The SSA predicts that this flow is unstable to secondary, time-dependent perturbations. We report the upper branch of the secondary neutral curve and describe numerous eigenmodes located inside the shear layers surrounding the primary high-speed streak and the vortices. We find secondary flow instability at Reynolds numbers as low as$Re\approx 175$, i.e. far below the linear critical Reynolds number$Re_{crit}\approx 583$of the SHBL. This secondary modal instability is confirmed by our three-dimensional DNS. Furthermore, these simulations show that the modes may grow until nonlinear processes lead to breakdown to turbulent flow for Reynolds numbers above$Re_{tr}\approx 250$. The three-dimensional mode shapes, growth rates, and the frequency dependence of the secondary eigenmodes found by SSA and the DNS results are in close agreement with each other. The transition Reynolds number$Re_{tr}\approx 250$at zero suction and its increase with wall suction closely coincide with experimental and numerical results from the literature. We conclude that the secondary instability and the transition scenario presented in this paper may serve as a possible explanation for the well-known subcritical transition observed in the leading-edge boundary layer.


Author(s):  
Jamison L. Szwalek ◽  
Carl M. Larsen

In-line vibrations have been noted to have an important contribution to the fatigue of free spanning pipelines. Still, in-line contributions are not usually accounted for in current VIV prediction models. The present study seeks to broaden the current knowledge regarding in-line vibrations by expanding the work of Aronsen (2007) to include possible Reynolds number effects on pure in-line forced, sinusoidal oscillations for four Reynolds numbers ranging from 9,000 to 36,200. Similar tests were performed for pure cross-flow forced motion as well, mostly to confirm findings from previous research. When experimental uncertainties are accounted for, there appears to be little dependence on Reynolds number for all three hydrodynamic coefficients considered: the force in phase with velocity, the force in phase with acceleration, and the mean drag coefficient. However, trends can still be observed for the in-line added mass in the first instability region and for the transition between the two instability regions for in-line oscillations, and also between the low and high cross-flow added mass regimes. For Re = 9,000, the hydrodynamic coefficients do not appear to be stable and can be regarded as highly Reynolds number dependent.


1977 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Kolansky ◽  
Sheldon Weinbaum ◽  
Robert Pfeffer

In Weinbaum et al. (1976) a simple new pressure hypothesis is derived which enables one to take account of the displacement interaction, the geometrical change in streamline radius of curvature and centrifugal effects in the thick viscous layers surrounding two-dimensional bluff bodies in the intermediate Reynolds number range O(1) < Re < O(102) using conventional Prandtl boundary-layer equations. The new pressure hypothesis states that the streamwise pressure gradient as a function of distance from the forward stagnation point on the displacement body is equal to the wall pressure gradient as a function of distance along the original body. This hypothesis is shown to be equivalent to stretching the streamwise body co-ordinate in conventional first-order boundary-layer theory. The present investigation shows that the same pressure hypothesis applies for the intermediate Reynolds number flow past axisymmetric bluff bodies except that the viscous term in the conventional axisymmetric boundary-layer equation must also be modified for transverse curvature effects O(δ) in the divergence of the stress tensor. The approximate solutions presented for the location of separation and the detailed surface pressure and vorticity distribution for the flow past spheres, spheroids and paraboloids of revolution at various Reynolds numbers in the range O(1) < Re < O(102) are in good agreement with available numerical Navier–Stokes solutions.


1992 ◽  
Vol 238 ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Em Karniadakis ◽  
George S. Triantafyllou

The wakes of bluff objects and in particular of circular cylinders are known to undergo a ‘fast’ transition, from a laminar two-dimensional state at Reynolds number 200 to a turbulent state at Reynolds number 400. The process has been documented in several experimental investigations, but the underlying physical mechanisms have remained largely unknown so far. In this paper, the transition process is investigated numerically, through direct simulation of the Navier—Stokes equations at representative Reynolds numbers, up to 500. A high-order time-accurate, mixed spectral/spectral element technique is used. It is shown that the wake first becomes three-dimensional, as a result of a secondary instability of the two-dimensional vortex street. This secondary instability appears at a Reynolds number close to 200. For slightly supercritical Reynolds numbers, a harmonic state develops, in which the flow oscillates at its fundamental frequency (Strouhal number) around a spanwise modulated time-average flow. In the near wake the modulation wavelength of the time-average flow is half of the spanwise wavelength of the perturbation flow, consistently with linear instability theory. The vortex filaments have a spanwise wavy shape in the near wake, and form rib-like structures further downstream. At higher Reynolds numbers the three-dimensional flow oscillation undergoes a period-doubling bifurcation, in which the flow alternates between two different states. Phase-space analysis of the flow shows that the basic limit cycle has branched into two connected limit cycles. In physical space the period doubling appears as the shedding of two distinct types of vortex filaments.Further increases of the Reynolds number result in a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations, which create a chaotic state in the flow at a Reynolds number of about 500. The flow is characterized by broadband power spectra, and the appearance of intermittent phenomena. It is concluded that the wake undergoes transition to turbulence following the period-doubling route.


1990 ◽  
Vol 220 ◽  
pp. 459-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. Badr ◽  
M. Coutanceau ◽  
S. C. R. Dennis ◽  
C. Ménard

The unsteady flow past a circular cylinder which starts translating and rotating impulsively from rest in a viscous fluid is investigated both theoretically and experimentally in the Reynolds number range 103 [les ] R [les ] 104 and for rotational to translational surface speed ratios between 0.5 and 3. The theoretical study is based on numerical solutions of the two-dimensional unsteady Navier–Stokes equations while the experimental investigation is based on visualization of the flow using very fine suspended particles. The object of the study is to examine the effect of increase of rotation on the flow structure. There is excellent agreement between the numerical and experimental results for all speed ratios considered, except in the case of the highest rotation rate. Here three-dimensional effects become more pronounced in the experiments and the laminar flow breaks down, while the calculated flow starts to approach a steady state. For lower rotation rates a periodic structure of vortex evolution and shedding develops in the calculations which is repeated exactly as time advances. Another feature of the calculations is the discrepancy in the lift and drag forces at high Reynolds numbers resulting from solving the boundary-layer limit of the equations of motion rather than the full Navier–Stokes equations. Typical results are given for selected values of the Reynolds number and rotation rate.


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