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A quantitative study of the flow around an impulsively started circular cylinder

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Abstract

The detailed flow structure behind an impulsively started circular cylinder has been investigated experimentally. The Reynolds number based on the steady state velocity and the diameter of the cylinder was 500 to 3,000. This work is unique in that unsteady spatial velocities were measured simultaneously by a quantitative visualization technique — Laser Induced Photochemical Anemometry (LIPA). The surface vorticity at g/q = π/2 and vorticity distribution behind the cylinder in the Lagrangian coordinates (i.e. coordinates fixed on the cylinder) were calculated from the measured velocities. The surface vorticity shows in the early stage of flow development a close agreement with the previous results obtained by analytical and numerical approaches. The large-field velocity and vorticity information provides an insight into the formation process of the vortices downstream of the cylinder. In addition to the quantitative information, the results of visualized flow pattern obtained by LIPA technique are also presented.

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Abbreviations

a :

distance from the downstream edge of the cylinder to the vortex core along X-axis (see Fig. 1a)

b :

distance between vortex cores (see Fig. 1a)

t :

time in seconds

u :

streamwise component of velocity

u * :

nondimensional velocity, \(\frac{u}{U}\)

C :

path of line integral

D :

diameter of cylinder

Re :

Reynolds number, \(\frac{{UD}}{v}\)

S :

area

T :

nondimensional time, \(\frac{{t{\text{ }}U}}{D}\)

U :

steady state velocity of the cylinder

X, Y :

Cartesian coordinates fixed on the cylinder

v :

kinematic viscosity of working fluid

Γ :

circulation

Γ * :

nondimensional circulation of primary vortex, \(\frac{\Gamma }{{U{\text{ }}D}}\)

ω :

vorticity (1/s)

ω z :

spanwise component of vorticity

ω * :

nondimensional surface vorticity, \({{\left( {\frac{{\partial u}}{{\partial y}}} \right)} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\left( {\frac{{\partial u}}{{\partial y}}} \right)} {\left( {\frac{{2U}}{D}} \right)}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\left( {\frac{{2U}}{D}} \right)}}\)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Applied Mechanics, College of Engineering, National Taiwan University, 106, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    C. -C. Chu & Y. -Y. Liao

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  1. C. -C. Chu
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  2. Y. -Y. Liao
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Chu, C.C., Liao, Y.Y. A quantitative study of the flow around an impulsively started circular cylinder. Experiments in Fluids 13, 137–146 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00218160

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00218160

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