Control of rotating cylinders as suppressors of vortex-induced vibration of a bluff body

Abstract

The flow past a plain circular cylinder can be controlled by eight small cylinders rotating about the diameter. They rotate such that the tip speed varies from 0 to 1.5 times the free-stream velocity. A numerical approach is employed to simulate the laminar flow at a Reynolds number of 100. Computations are carried out for various values of gap between the main body and the control cylinders. The governing equations are discretized by a finite volume method for a two-dimensional computational domain. A gap value of one-hundredth the diameter of the main cylinder is found to be the optimal value that produced a steady wake. Compared to the flow past an isolated cylinder it is observed a reduction in the drag coefficient. Unsteady hydrodynamic forces is presented for all tested cases.