Department of Mechanical System Engineering, Kumamoto University 2-39-1, Kurokami, Kumamoto, 860–8555, JAPAN. E-mail:
The present study deals with unsteady laminar fluid transport phenomena around a pair of diamond-shaped cylinders placed side by side in free stream. The Navier-Storks equations are discretized using finite difference methods to determine the time history of velocity vector distribution in the flow field. Emphasis is placed on the effects of the Reynolds number, Re, and the ratio of cylinder separation distance to length of diamond-shaped cylinder, s/d, on the flow patterns. The study discloses that (i) the generation of von Karman vortex streets behind the diamond-shaped cylinders is intensified with an increase in the Reynolds number, (ii) the flow pattern in the wake region of the diamond-shaped islands is affected by s/d, (iii) the corresponding flow map is obtained in the form of the Reynolds number versus s/d, and (iv) the vortex shedding frequency depends on the gap spacing.
diamond-shaped cylinders, numerical simulation, Reynolds number, vortex motion