NUMERICAL STUDY OF THE WAKE STRUCTURE BEHIND AN OSCILLATING CIRCULAR CYLINDER AT LOW REYNOLDS NUMBERS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34185/1991-7848.itmm.2026.01.026Keywords:
vortex-induced vibrations, circular cylinder, vortex wake, numerical simulation, URANS, laminar-turbulent transition model, vortex shedding modes, Reynolds number, OpenFOAMAbstract
Numerical simulation of the vortex wake structure behind a circular cylinder undergoing forced transverse oscillations in an incompressible fluid at a subcritical Reynolds number Re=2174 has been performed. A two-dimensional URANS approach with the SST turbulence model and a laminar-turbulent transition model, implemented in the OpenFOAM software package, was utilized. The dependence of various vortex shedding modes (2S, 2P, 2P0, P+S, C(2S), 2T) on the dimensionless amplitude and frequency of forced oscillations was investigated in accordance with the experimental map by T. Morse and C. H. K. Williamson. Vorticity contours, time histories of aerodynamic coefficients, and amplitude-frequency spectra were obtained. It is shown that 2D modeling qualitatively reproduces the primary vortex shedding modes and the boundaries of transitions between them; however, modes with two pairs of vortices (2P and 2P0) and combined modes (2S/2P0 and 2P0/2P) prove to be unstable and eventually decay into P+S or 2S due to the inability to capture three-dimensional phenomena in a two-dimensional simulation. To accurately calculate hydrodynamic forces and simulate 2P or combined modes, three-dimensional (3D) computations are required.
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