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Vortex shedding from tandem cylinders

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Abstract

An experimental investigation is conducted on the flow around tandem cylinders for ranges of diameter ratio d/D = 0.25–1.0, spacing ratio L/d = 5.5–20, and Reynolds number Re = 0.8 × 104–2.42 × 104, where d and D are the diameters of the upstream and downstream cylinders, respectively, L is the distance from the upstream cylinder center to the forward stagnation point of the downstream one. The focus is given on examining the effects of d/D, L/d and Re on Strouhal number St, flow structures and fluid forces measured using hotwire, particle image velocimetry (PIV) and load cell measurement techniques, respectively. Changes in d/D and L/d in the ranges examined lead to five flow regimes, namely lock-in, intermittent lock-in, no lock-in, subharmonic lock-in and shear-layer reattachment regimes. Time-mean drag coefficient (CD) and fluctuating drag and lift coefficients (\({C^{\prime}_{\text{D}}}\) and \({C^{\prime}_{\text{L}}}\)) are more sensitive to L/d than d/D. The scenario is opposite for St where d/D is more prominent than L/d to change the St. The detailed facet of the dependence on d/D and L/d of CD, \({C^{\prime}_{\text{D}}}\), \({C^{\prime}_{\text{L}}}\) and St is discussed based on shear-layer velocity, approaching velocity, vortex formation length, and wake width.

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Alam and Zhou (2008)

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Acknowledgements

Alam wishes to acknowledge the support given by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through Grants 11672096 and 91752112.

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Correspondence to Md. Mahbub Alam.

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Alam, M.M., Elhimer, M., Wang, L. et al. Vortex shedding from tandem cylinders. Exp Fluids 59, 60 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-018-2501-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-018-2501-8

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