Zhou Chao Ying

A computational study of flow past three unequal sized square cylinders at different positions

The flow past three unequal sized side-by-side square cylinders placed in different vertical configurations is investigated numerically using the lattice Boltzmann method for the Reynolds number Re = 160 and different values of the gap spacing between the cylinders, g, (ranging between 0.5 and 5). The present study is devoted to systematic investigation of the effects of cylinders position on the flow patterns. The reported results reveal that the flow patterns change significantly by the variation of cylinders configuration. Depending on the cylinders positions we observed; chaotic, base bleed, binary vortex street, modulated synchronized, inphase vortex shedding, antiphase vortex shedding, and in-antiphase vortex shedding flow patterns. The characteristics of the flow patterns are discussed with the aid of time history analysis of drag and lift coefficients, power spectra analysis of lift coefficients and vorticity contours visualization. The study also includes a detailed discussion on the aerodynamic ...

Transitions in the flow patterns and aerodynamic characteristics of the flow around staggered rows of cylinders

A two-dimensional numerical study of flow across rows of identical square cylinders arranged in staggered fashion is carried out. This study will unreveal complex flow physics depending upon the Reynolds number (Re) and gap spacing (g) between the cylinders. The combined effect of Reynolds number and gap spacing on the flow physics around staggered rows of cylinders are numerically studied for 20 ≤ Re ≤ 140 and 1 ≤ g ≤ 6. We use the lattice Boltzmann method for numerical computations. It is found that with increase in gap spacing between the cylinders the critical Reynolds number for the onset of vortex shedding also increases. We observed a strong effect of Reynolds number at g = 2 and 4. Secondary cylinder interaction frequency disappears for large Reynolds number at g = 6 and 5 and the flow around cylinders are fully dominated by the primary vortex shedding frequency. This ensures that at large gap spacing with an increase in the Reynolds number the wakes interaction between and behind the cylinders is weaken. Furthermore, it also ensures that the wake interaction behind the cylinders is strongly influenced by the jets in the gap spacing between the cylinders. We also found that g = 2 is the critical gap spacing for flow across rows of staggered square cylinders for the considered range of Reynolds number. Depending on the Reynolds number we observed; synchronous, quasi-periodic-I, quasi-periodic-II, and chaotic flow patterns. In synchronous flow pattern, an in-phase and anti-phase characteristics of consecutive cylinders has been observed. The important physical parameters are also analyzed and discussed in detail.

A computational study of drag reduction and vortex shedding suppression of flow past a square cylinder in presence of small control cylinders

This article presents a two-dimensional numerical study of the unsteady laminar flow from a square cylinder in presence of multiple small control cylinders. The cylinders are placed in an unconfined medium at low Reynolds numbers (Re = 100 and 160). Different flow phenomena are captured for the gap spacings (g = s/D, where s is the surface-to-surface distance between the main cylinder and small control cylinders and D is the size of the main cylinder) between 0.25 – 3 and angle of attack (θ) ranging from 300 to 1800. Numerical calculations are performed by using a lattice Boltzmann method. In this paper, the important flow physics of different observed flow patterns in terms of instantaneous vorticity contours visualization, time-trace analysis of drag and lift coefficients and power spectra analysis of lift coefficient are presented and discussed. Drag reduction and suppression of vortex shedding is also discussed in detail and compared with the available experimental and numerical results qualitatively ...