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Influence of corner radius on the near wake structure of a transversely oscillating square cylinder

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Abstract

The near wake flow field features of transversely oscillating square section cylinders with different corner radii were studied in an attempt to assess the influence of corner radius. The investigation was performed by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique in a water channel with a turbulence intensity of 6.5%. Five models were studied with r/B=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 (r is the corner radius and B is the characteristic dimension of the body), and the body oscillation was limited to lock-in condition (at fe/fo=1.0; fe is the excitation frequency and fo is the vortex shedding frequency from a stationary cylinder at the same Re). The corner radius was found to significantly influence the flow features around the bodies. Except for r/B=0.5, for all the other cases of r/B ratios, cycle-to cycle variation in the mode of vortex shedding was observed in the case of oscillating cylinders inducing highly non-linear wake characteristics. Apart from variation in the shedding mode, changes in shedding cycle timing were also observed for sharp and rounded square cylinders. The hgher the r/B ratio, shedding in the near wake was found to be more uniform (lesser variation in shedding cycle timings). Another admissible shedding mechanism is newly identified to operate in the near wake of oscillating cylinders now being called as the ‘passive shedding’ mechanism. Results indicate that increasing the corner radius suppresses the possible instabilities of the cylinder.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Deemed University), Amritapuri Campus, Kollam District, India

    R. Ajith Kumar

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 1370, Sankyuk-Dong, Buk-Gu, Daegu, 702-701, Korea

    Chang Hyun Sohn

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, BTL Institute of Tecnology, Bommasandra, Bangalore, India

    B. H. Lakshmana Gowda

Authors
  1. R. Ajith Kumar
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  2. Chang Hyun Sohn
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  3. B. H. Lakshmana Gowda
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Correspondence to Chang Hyun Sohn.

Additional information

This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Kyung-Soo Yang

R. Ajith Kumar holds an M.Tech and PhD degrees from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. His field of specialization is Flow-Induced Vibrations. He has authored several articles in international journals and conferences. He serves as an editorial board member to an international journal and also as a reviewer to many international journals. He is a full professor to the department of mechanical engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Deemed University), India. Currently, on leave, he is pursuing his post-doctoral studies in the department of naval architecture and marine engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to this assignment, he was a BK21 post-doctoral scholar at Kyungpook National University, South Korea.

Chang Hyun Sohn received M.Sc. (Eng) and Ph.D. from KAIST. He worked in ADD for 3 years. He studied in Cambridge University as a visiting assistant professor from 1996 to 1997. He is a full professor to the school of mechanical engineering, Kyungpook National University. His research interests are CFD, PIV, Flow Induced Vibration and Thermal-hydraulics in Mechanical Engineering Field.

B. H. Lakshmana Gowda: He received his M.E. (Eng) in 1965 from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He also received his Ph.D. in 1974 from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He worked in Indian Institute of Technology, Madras as a professor since 1967. He worked in Kyungpook National University as a visiting professor from 2004. He works in Mechanical Engineering, BTL Institute of Tecnology, Bommasandra, Bangalore since 2008. His research interests are Turbulent Shear Flows, Flow Induced Vibration and Flow Around Three-Dimensional Bluff Bodies.

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Ajith Kumar, R., Sohn, C.H. & Gowda, B.H.L. Influence of corner radius on the near wake structure of a transversely oscillating square cylinder. J Mech Sci Technol 23, 2390–2416 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0630-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0630-y

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