Numerical simulation of flow interference between two circular cylinders in tandem and side-by-side arrangements

The shedding of vortices and flow interference between two circular cylinders in tandem and side-by-side arrangements are investigated numerically in this paper. A Fractional Step Method is used for the simulations and the. flow is assumed two-dimensional. The calculations are carried out on a three-noded unstructured mesh. The simulations are performed for a Reynolds number range varying from 100 to 200, and the flow is solved through the finite-element method. The mesh is finer close to the cylinder wall in order to have a better description of the boundary layer. Vorticity contours of the flow around the cylinders and force time histories are presented. The calculations are also compared to the experimental results obtained by Bearman & Wadcock in 1973 and Williamson in 1985. The numerical simulations, in this sense, complement their work with very detailed vorticity calculations and flow visualizations. (C) 2001 Academic Press.