Computational Study of Fluid Flow Characteristics past Circular Cylinder due to Confining Walls with Local Waviness

Abstract

Flow past circular cylinder confined by walls with local waviness near the cylinder has been computed and the vortex shedding characteristics are studied at Reynolds number 200. The governing equations are solved using finite volume based CFD solver, 'Ansys Fluent 15.0'. In the present study, flow fields have been computed with waviness placed at four different locations. The effect of the location of waviness on vortex formation and its shedding frequency has been closely captured and presented. The flow parameters such as drag, lift and Strouhal number are calculated using the field data obtained from computations. It has been observed that the vortex shedding is significantly controlled by changing the location of local waviness. Among the four different locations considered in the present study, the waviness located near the wake region effectively suppresses the shedding. Moreover, the inward projection of the waviness plays a vital role in vortex suppression. It is also observed this method of vortex suppression leads to increase in drag.