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Large eddy simulation of flow past a square cylinder with rounded leading corners: A comparison of 2D and 3D approaches

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Abstract

The unsteady flow past a square cylinder with rounded leading corners is predicted at Re = 2600 by large eddy simulations (LES). The corner radius r is fixed at 3 mm and the cylinder width D is 12.7 mm, resulting in r /D = 0.236. Detailed comparisons are made between the two-dimensional (2D) and the three-dimensional (3D) results with previous experimental measurements [32, 33]. The results show that the Strouhal number agrees well with previous measurement [33], indicating that both 2D and 3D LES are capable of capturing the shedding of large-scale vortical strutures. The statistical quantities (e.g., the drag and lift coefficients, the time-averaged streamwise velocity, the root-mean-square of streamwise velocity and the Reynolds stress) were calculated and validated against experimental results [32, 33]. The 3D LES results show reasonable agreement with the experimental measurement [32, 33], while the results predicted by 2D LES deviate far from the experimental measurement [32, 33]. It is further demonstrated that the recirculation length and the vortex formation length are consistent with experimental results [33], while it is greatly shortened in 2D LES.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Liuliu Shi & Shichuan Yao

  2. School of Medical Instruments, Shanghai University of Medical and Health Science, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Geer Yang

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  1. Liuliu Shi
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  2. Geer Yang
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Correspondence to Liuliu Shi.

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Liuliu Shi, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor studying turbulence, flow control, and unsteady flow in turbomachinery.

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Shi, L., Yang, G. & Yao, S. Large eddy simulation of flow past a square cylinder with rounded leading corners: A comparison of 2D and 3D approaches. J Mech Sci Technol 32, 2671–2680 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0524-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0524-y

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