Numerical Study of Circular-Cylinder Disturbance Generators with Rigid Splitter Plates

Abstract

This paper describes the numerical study of oscillating circular cylinders with rigid splitter plates of different lengths. These geometries may be used as disturbance generators for the study of unsteady airfoils and wings operating in highly vortical flowfields. It has been shown that cylinders undergoing forced rotational oscillations at their natural shedding frequency can produce wakes with minimal deviation in cycle-to-cycle vortex strength and position. Adding a splitter plate allows these deviations to be reduced even further. We present cases for oscillating cylinders having splitter-plate lengths up to [Formula: see text] at a Reynolds number of 7600. Frequencies are maintained at the natural shedding frequency, and a rotational amplitude of 45 deg is used. Numerical simulations are performed using a two-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) code. Results are presented in the form of vorticity contours and cycle-averaged velocity profiles, as well as the dominant frequencies of cylinder lift force and downstream velocity angles. The results show that splitter-plate lengths shorter than [Formula: see text] adversely affect the ability to generate a coherent vortex wake due to shear layer roll-up near the trailing edge of the plate. Splitter plates longer than [Formula: see text] produced a reverse von Kármán wake with consistent cycle-to-cycle vortex shedding.