Passive control of porous media on the aerodynamic forces and wake structures of wall-mounted short circular cylinders

Abstract

This paper numerically investigates the aerodynamic forces and the three-dimensional wake characteristics of wall-mounted circular cylinders with and without porous media coatings using large eddy simulation at a Reynolds number of 3.2×104. Short cylinders with aspect ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 3.0 are considered, with one end fixed to a bottom wall in the current work. The study focuses on aerodynamic coefficients, flow characteristics, and wake structures for cylinders both with and without porous coatings. The statistical results indicate that porous media significantly alter flow patterns behind the cylinders, suppress downwash flow from the free end, and reduce velocity fluctuations and turbulent kinetic energy within the wake. The porous coating enhances the leeward side's base pressure, leading to a reduction in drag on the cylinder surface. The analysis of flow structures reveals that the topology of the arch vortex behind solid cylinders is significantly dependent on the aspect ratio, whereas this dependency is negligible for porous cylinders. Porous coatings diminish the intensity of the tip and trailing vortices behind the cylinder. Finally, based on the time-averaged flow field, we proposed two conceptual models of topological correlation for wall-mounted short cylinders, both with and without porous coatings, which contributes to describing the geometric characteristics and interactions of vortex structures.