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Study on flow past two spheres in tandem arrangement using a local mesh refinement virtual boundary method
Author(s) -
Zou JianFeng,
Ren AnLu,
Deng Jian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in fluids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1097-0363
pISSN - 0271-2091
DOI - 10.1002/fld.998
Subject(s) - vortex shedding , flow (mathematics) , spheres , boundary (topology) , rotational symmetry , planar , bifurcation , symmetry (geometry) , geometry , mathematics , vortex , physics , mechanics , mathematical analysis , computer science , reynolds number , computer graphics (images) , nonlinear system , astronomy , quantum mechanics , turbulence
A local mesh refinement virtual boundary method based on a uniform grid is designed to study the transition between the flow patterns of two spheres in tandem arrangement for Re =250. For a small gap ( L/D =1.5), the flow field is axisymmetric. As the spacing ratio increases to 2.0, the pressure gradient induces the circumferential fluid motion and a plane‐symmetric flow is constructed through a regular bifurcation. For L / D ⩾2.5, the vortices are periodically shed from the right sphere, but the planar symmetry remains. The case for L/D =3.0 is picked up to give a detail investigation for the unsteady flow. The shedding frequency of vortical structure from the upper side of the right sphere is found to be double of the frequency of the lower side. With the flow spectra of various gaps given, the underlying competitive mechanism between the two shedding frequencies is studied and a critical spacing gap is revealed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.