LARGE-EDDY SIMULATION OF FLOW AROUND CYLINDER ARRAYS AT A SUBCRITICAL REYNOLDS NUMBER

The complex three-dimensional turbulent flows around a cylinder array with four cylinders in an in-line square configuration at a subcritical Reynolds number of 1.5 x 10(4) with the spacing ratio at L / D = 1.5 and 3.5 were investigated using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The full field vorticity and velocity distributions as well as turbulent quantities were calculated in detail and the near wake structures were presented. The results show that the bi-stable flow nature was observed at L / D = 1.5 and distinct vortex shedding of the upstream cylinders occurred at L/D = 3.5 at Re = 1.5x 10(4). The techniques of Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) and Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV) are also employed to validate the present LES method. The results show that the numerical predictions are in excellent agreement with the experimental measurements. Therefore, the full field instantaneous and mean quantities of the flow field, velocity field and vorticity field can be extracted from the LES results for further study of the complex now characteristics.