Enhancing Aerodynamic Performance of Double Rectangular Cylinders through Numerical Analysis at Varying Inclinations

Abstract

In the present work, numerical simulations are conducted for external flow through a double rectangular cylinder with different inclinations at Reynolds number (Re) 50 to 200 based on free stream velocity. The cylinder aspect ratio is considered to be fixed at 0.25. During the numerical simulations, one cylinder is kept fixed, and the other cylinder is inclined at ‘θ = 20o’ first clockwise and then in an anticlockwise direction alternatively for both cylinders. Because of the inclined cylinder, the vortex dynamics lead to significant changes in flow-induced forces. In this article, the focus is given to how Re and inclination in the cylinder influence the flow structures and associated aerodynamic properties. It is shown that when any of the cylinders are inclined, a significant decrease in the average drag coefficient is noticed as compared to the parallel cylinder case. In a similar manner, the lift coefficient also decreases when any one of the cylinders is inclined at θ = 20o either clockwise or counterclockwise as compared to the parallel cylinder case.

Keywords

• numerical simulation
• lift coefficient
• drag coefficient
• strouhal number
• double rectangular cylinder