The effect of free-stream turbulence on sectional lift forces on a circular cylinder

Wind-tunnel experiments were conducted to examine the effect of grid-generated turbulence on lift forces at sections of a circular cylinder. Turbulence of longitudinal intensity between 0.6% and 18% was employed, with cylinder Reynolds numbers in the range 1 x 10(5) to 5 x 10(5). Addition of low-intensity turbulence had the primary effect of inducing the critical transition at Reynolds numbers below that for smooth flow; above transition there was little difference between the forces experienced by the cylinder in smooth or turbulent flow, with no sign of organized vortex shedding. At higher turbulence intensities effects consistent with a return to organized vortex shedding were observed, particularly for the highest intensity and at the upper end of the Reynolds number range; lift coefficients were greater than in smooth supercritical flow, with a broad spectral peak centred near a Strouhal number of 0.23 accompanied by an increase in spanwise correlation lengths of lift force.