Numerical investigation of flow around two cylinders in tandem above a scoured bed

Flow mechanisms around two cylinders in tandem arrangement above a scoured bed have been investigated using the three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes equations with the Spalart-Allmaras improved delayed detached-eddy simulation model. A turbulent inlet boundary layer generation method is adopted to obtain more realistic inlet boundary conditions. First, uniform flow over a single cylinder at Re = 3900 and flow over a single cylinder above scoured beds at Re = 6000 were simulated to validate the numerical model, boundary layer generation method, and mesh density effect. Second, two cylinders in the tandem arrangement above scoured beds with six different pitch ratios L/D are investigated numerically in terms of instantaneous vortex characteristics, the hydrodynamic force, and time-averaged flow fields. The simulation results in scoured beds are compared with simulations under the near flat wall and wall-free conditions. The major findings can be summarized as follows. (1) When L / D & LE; 2.0, the wake of two tandem cylinders is dominated by the intermittent shedding, and the downstream sand dune in the scoured bed hinders the Karman vortex formation at the rear of the downstream cylinder. Lift force fluctuations of the two cylinders have small amplitudes, and their spectra show a multi-peak distribution and no dominant peak frequency in the spectrum of the upstream cylinder. A squarish cavity-like recirculation zone is formed between two cylinders at L / D <= 2.0. (2) When L / D >= 3.0, the periodic vortex shedding is evident in the wake of the upstream cylinder, and the small sand berm between two cylinders has an impact on the bottom shear layer of the upstream cylinder. The downstream cylinder is periodically impacted by the vortices shed from the upstream cylinder. Lift force spectra of the upstream and downstream cylinders have the same peak frequency. (3) Due to the influence of scoured bed and the inlet boundary layer, the time-averaged lift coefficient of the upstream cylinder remains negative when L / D >= 1.5, and the critical spacing for drag inversion is relatively smaller compared with under wall-free conditions. The negative pressure coefficient values of the upstream cylinder are smaller than the values in near flat wall and wall-free conditions. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

The study investigates the flow mechanisms around two cylinders in tandem arrangement above a scoured bed using numerical simulations. Different spacing ratios between cylinders result in distinct vortex shedding characteristics, hydrodynamic forces, and lift coefficients. The effects of the scoured bed and inlet boundary layer on the flow behavior are significant, leading to changes in lift forces and drag inversion compared to wall-free conditions.