Numerical investigation on the flow past three cylinders in staggered symmetrical arrangement

Abstract

The multiple structures interacting with fluid flowing past are ubiquitous in engineering circumstances. By modeling the structures to cylinders, the force coefficients of the cylinders are significant references for the designs of the structures. However, the study on the flow past a group of three cylinders are relatively scarce. This study is devoted to reveal the arrangement’s impact on the flow with the help of numerical simulation. It is found that three cylinders behave as one cylinder in vortex shedding when they clustered enough close. Besides, the streamwise intervals among cylinders has a considerable effect on the amplitude and frequencies of the force coefficients.