Base pressure fluctuations on levitated freestream-aligned circular cylinder

Abstract

Base pressure fluctuations associated with the large-scale wake structures behind a freestream-aligned circular cylinder and aerodynamic force fluctuations related to them are experimentally investigated in the wind tunnel tests. Measurements at R e D = 6.97 × 10 4 and 1.04 × 10 5 were conducted using pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) and a magnetic suspension and balance system (MSBS) for creating a supportless condition. The obtained pressure fields were mainly analyzed by a modal decomposition combining azimuthal Fourier decomposition and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The pressure fluctuations caused by large-scale vortex shedding were observed from the results of frequency analysis for mode coefficients. The states of the fluctuations were classified into three patterns, which are anticlockwise/clockwise circular and flapping patterns. These patterns have been observed in the previous studies for velocity fluctuations in the wake of a freestream-aligned circular cylinder. The conditional sampling analysis revealed that the trend in the amplitude of the pressure fluctuations is different by the state, and the flapping pattern causes a large pressure difference across the cylinder axis. Furthermore, the relationship between the antisymmetric pressure fluctuations and lift fluctuations, which act in the lateral direction of the cylinder, is confirmed.