On the effect of Reynolds number for flow around a row of square cylinders

Abstract

Flow across a row of identical square cylinders placed side-by-side has been found to show interesting flow patterns which have complex characteristics depending upon the spacing (s/d) between the cylinders and the Reynolds number (Re). The combined effects of cylinder spacing and Reynolds number on the flow across a row of cylinders are numerically studied for 30≤Re≤140 and 1.0≤s/d≤4.0, where s is the surface-to-surface distance between two cylinders and d is the size of cylinder. It is found that the critical Reynolds number for the onset of vortex shedding increases with increase in gap ratio. The Reynolds number is found to have a strong effect on the flow especially at s/d=3.0,4.0. Secondary frequency in the signal for lift and drag coefficients significantly contributes to the forces experienced by the cylinders. It is observed that at s/d=3.0,4.0 the secondary frequency disappears at larger Reynolds number and the primary frequency dominates the flow. This means that the interaction of the wakes behind the cylinders at these gap ratios weakens with an increase in the Reynolds number. It is proposed that wake interaction is strongly influenced by the jets in the gap region, the nature of which alters with spacing and Reynolds number. This is confirmed by computing the average wake size as a function of Reynolds number. Based on this, two critical gap ratios, 2.0 and 4.0 for the range of Reynolds number under consideration are proposed. These gap ratios separate synchronous, quasiperiodic-I and quasiperiodic-II flow regimes depending on the Reynolds number. The mechanism of wake interaction has been studied to bring out these critical gap ratios.