A Study on Vortex Shedding From Spheres in a Uniform Flow

1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 386-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Sakamoto ◽  
H. Haniu

Vortex shedding from spheres at Reynolds numbers from 3 × 102 to 4 × 104 in a uniform flow was investigated experimentally. Standard hot-wire technique were used to measure the vortex shedding frequency from spheres in a low-speed wind tunnel. Flow-visualization experiments were carried out in a water channel. Important results from the investigation were that (i) the variation of the Strouhal number St (=fD/U0, U0: freestream velocity, D: diameter of the sphere, f: vortex shedding frequency) with the Reynolds number (= U0D/v, v: kinematic viscosity) can be classified into four regions, (ii) the Reynolds number at which the hairpinshaped vortices begin to change from laminar to turbulent vortices so that the wake structure behind the sphere is not shown clearly when a Reynolds number of about 800 is reached, and (vi) at Reynolds numbers ranging from 8X102 to 1.5X104, the higher and lower frequency modes of the Strouhal number coexist.

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Ferreira ◽  
E. D. R. Vieira

The flow around a circular cylinder has awaken the attention of different researchers since the historic Strouhal's work of 1878. Ever since, many experimental and numeric works have been carried out in order to determine the relationship between the vortex shedding frequency and the flow regime. Recently, a number of studies have been developed using several small modifications in circular cylinder. In this work a circular cylinder modified with a longitudinal concave notch, has been tested in order to determine the relationship between the non-dimensional vortex shedding frequency (Strouhal number) and the Reynolds number has been determined to Reynolds up to 600. Additionally a modified circular cylinder with a longitudinal slit also has been tested in order to determine the Strouhal-Reynolds relationship in several attack angle configurations. The experiments have been carried out in a vertical low turbulence hydrodynamic tunnel with 146x146x500 mm of test section operating in continuous mode. Flow visualization by direct liquid dye injection has been utilized in order to produce vortex images. These images have been captured in still chemical photography for different Reynolds numbers. A hot-film probe has been adequately positioned in the vortex wake to determine the vortex shedding frequency and consequently the Strouhal number.


1976 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Stansby

The frequencies of vortex shedding from circular cylinders forced to oscillate transversely in low-turbulence uniform and shear flows were investigated. The stream velocity in the shear flow varied linearly with spanwise distance.In both flows the vortex shedding frequency locked on to the cylinder frequency and to submultiples of the cylinder frequency. In uniform flow the range of cylinder frequencies for locking-on was dependent on the amplitude of oscillation and Reynolds number. At the boundaries of locking-on at the cylinder frequency locked-on shedding was intermittent with unforced shedding and locking-on was accompanied by a change in wake width. At a particular cylinder frequency near mid-range it is conjectured that the wake width jumped from being greater to being less than that for the stationary cylinder. In shear flow the spanwise extent of locking-on at the cylinder frequency was explained by considering the uniform flow results and the inclination of shed vortices in shear flow. At the spanwise boundaries of this locking-on, locked-on cells were shed intermittently with unforced cells which were more stable in frequency than the corresponding cells for the stationary cylinder.


1988 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Lam ◽  
W. C. Cheung

This paper describes how the flows around three equal circular cylinders arranged in an equilateral-triangular manner interact at different angles of incidence α and spacing ratios l/d. Some vortex-shedding-frequency data evaluated from flow visualization experiments conducted at Reynolds numbers of 2.1 × 103 and 3.5 × 103, based on the diameter of a single cylinder, using a dye -injection technique, are presented. In order to provide additional insight to the understanding of the flow structure around this particular cylinder array, some photographs indicating the typical flow patterns for various arrangements are also presented. The investigation indicates that the flows interact in a complex fashion for spacing ratios smaller than 2.29 and it also reveals that, at this range of spacing ratios and at α = 0°, bistable flow characteristic exists. Moreover, for l/d approximately smaller than 4.65 there always exists an angle at which the vortex shedding behind an upstream cylinder is suppressed by a nearest downstream cylinder. This angle is found not to remain constant but increases as the spacing ratio increases. For illustration and comparisons, some numerical results obtained from the application of the surface-vorticity method have also been presented.


1984 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Grass ◽  
P. W. J. Raven ◽  
R. J. Stuart ◽  
J. A. Bray

The paper summarizes the results of a laboratory study of the separate and combined effects of bed proximity and large velocity gradients on the frequency of vortex shedding from pipeline spans immersed in the thick boundary layers of tidal currents. This investigation forms part of a wider project concerned with the assessment of span stability. The measurements show that in the case of both sheared and uniform approach flows, with and without velocity gradients, respectively, the Strouhal number defining the vortex shedding frequency progressively increases as the gap between the pipe base and the bed is reduced below two pipe diameters. The maximum increase in vortex shedding Strouhal number, recorded close to the bed in an approach flow with large velocity gradients, was of the order of 25 percent.


2014 ◽  
Vol 493 ◽  
pp. 68-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willy Stevanus ◽  
Yi Jiun Peter Lin

The research studies the characteristics of the vertical flow past a finite-length horizontal cylinder at low Reynolds numbers (ReD) from 250 to 1080. The experiments were performed in a vertical closed-loop water tunnel. Flow fields were observed by the particle tracer approach for flow visualization and measured by the Particle Image Velocimetry (P.I.V.) approach for velocity fields. The characteristics of vortex formation in the wake of the finite-length cylinder change at different regions from the tip to the base of it. Near the tip, a pair of vortices in the wake was observed and the size of the vortex increased as the observed section was away from the tip. Around a distance of 3 diameters of the cylinder from its tip, the vortex street in the wake was observed. The characteristics of vortex formation also change with increasing Reynolds numbers. At X/D = -3, a pair of vortices was observed in the wake for ReD = 250, but as the ReD increases the vortex street was observed at the same section. The vortex shedding frequency is analyzed by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Experimental results show that the downwash flow affects the vortex shedding frequency even to 5 diameters of the cylinder from its tip. The interaction between the downwash flow and the Von Kármán vortex street in the wake of the cylinder is presented in this paper.


Author(s):  
Mohammed Alziadeh ◽  
Atef Mohany

Abstract This article explores the applicability of utilizing different equivalent diameter (Deq) equations to estimate the vortex shedding frequency and onset of self-excited acoustic resonance for various types of finned cylinders. The focus is on three finned cylinder types that are commonly used in industrial heat exchangers: straight, twist-serrated, and crimped spirally finned cylinders. Within each type of fins, at least three different finned cylinders are investigated. The results indicate that at off-resonance conditions, utilizing the appropriate equivalent diameter collapses the Strouhal number data within the typical Strouhal number variations of an equivalent diameter circular, bare cylinder. However, when acoustic resonance is initiated, the onset and the peak of resonance excitation in all of the finned cylinder cases generally occurred at a reduced flow velocity earlier than that observed from their equivalent diameter bare cylinders. This suggests that although utilizing the appropriate equivalent diameter can reasonably estimate the vortex shedding frequency away from acoustic resonance excitation, it cannot be used to predict the onset of acoustic resonance in finned tubes. The findings of this study indicate that the effective diameter approach is not sufficient to capture the intrinsic changes in the flow-sound interaction mechanism as a result of adding fins to a bare cylinder. Thus, a revision of the acoustic Strouhal number charts is required for finned tubes of different types and arrangements.


2013 ◽  
Vol 735 ◽  
pp. 307-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kumar ◽  
C. Lopez ◽  
O. Probst ◽  
G. Francisco ◽  
D. Askari ◽  
...  

AbstractFlow past a circular cylinder executing sinusoidal rotary oscillations about its own axis is studied experimentally. The experiments are carried out at a Reynolds number of 185, oscillation amplitudes varying from $\mathrm{\pi} / 8$ to $\mathrm{\pi} $, and at non-dimensional forcing frequencies (ratio of the cylinder oscillation frequency to the vortex-shedding frequency from a stationary cylinder) varying from 0 to 5. The diagnostic is performed by extensive flow visualization using the hydrogen bubble technique, hot-wire anemometry and particle-image velocimetry. The wake structures are related to the velocity spectra at various forcing parameters and downstream distances. It is found that the phenomenon of lock-on occurs in a forcing frequency range which depends not only on the amplitude of oscillation but also the downstream location from the cylinder. The experimentally measured lock-on diagram in the forcing amplitude and frequency plane at various downstream locations ranging from 2 to 23 diameters is presented. The far-field wake decouples, after the lock-on at higher forcing frequencies and behaves more like a regular Bénard–von Kármán vortex street from a stationary cylinder with vortex-shedding frequency mostly lower than that from a stationary cylinder. The dependence of circulation values of the shed vortices on the forcing frequency reveals a decay character independent of forcing amplitude beyond forcing frequency of ${\sim }1. 0$ and a scaling behaviour with forcing amplitude at forcing frequencies ${\leq }1. 0$. The flow visualizations reveal that the far-field wake becomes two-dimensional (planar) near the forcing frequencies where the circulation of the shed vortices becomes maximum and strong three-dimensional flow is generated as mode shape changes in certain forcing parameter conditions. It is also found from flow visualizations that even at higher Reynolds number of 400, forcing the cylinder at forcing amplitudes of $\mathrm{\pi} / 4$ and $\mathrm{\pi} / 2$ can make the flow field two-dimensional at forcing frequencies greater than ${\sim }2. 5$.


Author(s):  
Minter Cheng

Fluid flow across a bluff body can induce a series alternating vortices in the downstream flow field. The vortex flow can produce adverse effects on many engineering applications. A number of studies have shown that the wake splitter plate is one of the means to stabilize the vortex formation process. However, most of the previous studies are confined to cylinders with attached splitter plates. Very few studies investigate the effects of the spacing between the cylinder and the splitter plate on the formation of wake vortices. In the present study, the effects of the splitter plate length as well as the gap distance between the splitter plate and the cylinder on the wake flow behind a cylinder have been studied experimentally for low Reynolds number of 400. Both circular and square cylinders are studied in this research. Four splitter plates with different length, 1 ≤ L/D ≤ 4, have been used and a range of cylinder and splitter plate gap distance, 0 < G/D < 6, have been studied. By using flow visualization technique and hot-film anemometer measurement, detailed measurements of the velocity distribution, the vortex shedding frequency, the wake width, and the wake formation length are carried out in order to get a clear understanding of the flow interference behavior. The experimental results indicate that splitter plates alter the vortex formation process in the wake causing a decrease in vortex shedding frequency. The Strouhal number decreases with increasing the splitter plate length as well as the gap distance between the cylinder and the splitter plate. It is shown that a jump in Strouhal number occurs at G/D of 3 to 6. The jump is splitter plate length dependent, and generally the gap distance at which jump takes place increases as the splitter plate length increases.


Author(s):  
Aimie Faucett ◽  
Todd Harman ◽  
Tim Ameel

Flow around a rigid, truncated, wall-mounted cylinder with an aspect ratio of 5 is examined computationally at various Reynolds numbers Re to determine how the end effects impact the vortex shedding frequency. The existence of the wall and free end cause a dampening of the classical shedding frequency found for a semi-infinite, two-dimensional cylinder, as horseshoe vortices along the wall and flow over the tip entrain into the shedding region. This effect was observed for Reynolds numbers in the range of 50 to 2000, and quantified by comparing the modified Strouhal numbers to the classical (two-dimensional) solution for Strouhal number as a function of Reynolds number. The range of transition was found to be 220 < Re < 300, versus 150 < Re < 300 for the classical case. Vortex shedding started at Re ≈ 100, significantly above Re = 50, where shedding starts for the two-dimensional case.


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