Large Eddy Simulation of a Flow Past a Free Surface Piercing Circular Cylinder

Interactions between surface waves and underlying viscous wake are investigated for a turbulent flow past a free surface piercing circular cylinder at Reynolds number Re=2.7×104 using large eddy simulation (LES). The computations have been performed for three Froude numbers Fr=0.2, 0.5 and 0.8 in order to examine the influence of the Froude number. A second-order finite volume method coupled with a fractional step method is used for solving the grid-filtered incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The computational results are found to be in good agreement with the available experimental data. At low Froude numbers Fr=0.2 and 0.5, the amplitude of generated surface wave is small and the influence on the wake is not evident. On the other hand, strong wave-wake interactions are present at Fr=0.8, when the generated free surface wave is very steep. It is shown that structures of the underlying vortical flow correlate closely with the configuration of the free surface. Computational results show presence of a recirculation zone starting at the point where the surface slope changes discontinuously. Above this zone the surface elevation fluctuates intensively. The computed intensity of the surface fluctuation is in good agreement with the measurements. It is also shown that the periodic vortex shedding is attenuated near the free surface at a high Froude number. The region in which the periodic vortex shedding is hampered extends to about one diameter from the mean water level. It is qualitatively shown that the separated shear layers are inclined outward near the free surface due to the generation of the surface waves. This change in the relation between two shear layers is suggested to be responsible for the attenuation of the periodic vortex shedding.