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A PIV study of blockage ratio effects on flow over a confined circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers

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Abstract

The present study examines the flow over a circular cylinder confined between two parallel walls in the lateral direction using a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) method. The experiment covers five blockage ratios (β) of 1/6, 1/5, 1/3, 1/2 and 3/5, respectively, at Reynolds numbers (Re) up to 1300. It is found that two vortex shedding modes including symmetric and alternating shedding modes appear at β ≥ 1/3 for Re > 600. The symmetric shedding mode appears intermittently and only lasts for short time periods, whereas the alternating shedding mode dominates wake dynamics. The frequencies corresponding to the two vortex shedding modes (fVK for alternating shedding mode and fSL for symmetric shedding mode) are clearly detected in separated shear layers. The occurrence of both vortex shedding modes at blockage ratios greater than 1/3 has not been reported previously in the literature, and only the alternating shedding mode was observed. The present study reveals that the fVK-based Strouhal number increases exponentially with β, which also depends on the Reynolds numbers. It is further revealed that the correlation between the fSL-based Strouhal number and Re follows a 1/2 power law at relatively large blockage ratios (e.g. β = 1/3 and 1/2).

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The first author was grateful to The University of Sydney for offering a PhD scholarship. We also would like to thank Mr. Theo Gresley-Daines for his assistance with the experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Wind, Waves and Water, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Quang Duy Nguyen & Chengwang Lei

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  1. Quang Duy Nguyen
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  2. Chengwang Lei
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Contributions

Both authors contributed to the conceptual design of the experiment and data analysis. Dr. Quang Duy Nguyen carried out the experiment, analysed data and drafted the manuscript. Professor Chengwang Lei supervised the project and contributed to writing and editing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Quang Duy Nguyen.

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Nguyen, Q.D., Lei, C. A PIV study of blockage ratio effects on flow over a confined circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers. Exp Fluids 64, 10 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-022-03548-w

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