Author(s): Subhrangshu Purkayastha; Debasish Dutta; Mohammad Saud Afzal

Linked Author(s): Subhrangshu Purkayastha, Mohammad Saud Afzal

Keywords: Elliptical cylinder; Bottom moving wall; Gap-ratio; Angle of attack; CFD

Abstract: The investigation of the flow characteristics around cylinders of different cross-sections is considered as a classical problem of fluid mechanics. Owing to significant engineering applications like deducing the vortex-shedding associated with the wind flow around cylindrical high-rise structures, laying of under-water pipelines and the hydrodynamic considerations associated with the movement of under-water vehicles, the domain of bluff body flows is vastly explored. However, the available scientific literature suggest that our understanding of the various flow features associated with an elliptical cylinder kept at various angle of attacks in the presence of a bottom wall moving along the flow direction is limited. In the present work, the two-dimensional flow features surrounding a stationary elliptical cylinder of aspect ratio (defined as the ratio of the length of the minor axis to the length of the major axis) 0.5 is investigated using the opensource CFD framework OpenFOAM. The numerical experiments are run for two values of Reynolds number, viz., 100 and 200, in the laminar flow regime. Further, it is assumed that the major axis of the cylinder is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees with the flow direction. A moving wall boundary condition is imposed at the bottom. In order to comprehend the impact of the bottom moving wall on the hydrodynamics around the cylinder, simulations are conducted for different values of gap-ratio (the ratio of the distance between the cylinder center and the bottom wall to the length of the major axis of the cylinder) lying between 0.6 and 5.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC2521711920221689

Year: 2022