Flow Features of Three Side-by-side Circular Cylinders at Low Reynolds Number

Abstract

Abstract. In order to study the fluctuation of kinetic parameter of cylinder matrix in incompressible stationary flow, the flow fluid around three side-by-side circular cylinders are simulated using Immersed BoundaryLattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM). Drag and lift force of the three cylinders are investigated as the interval between each cylinder varied from zero to five times of the cylinder diameter. Five flow patterns are defined according to the vortices structure in the downstream of the cylinders. Power spectrum analysis of lift force is developed to explain the vortex patterns. Through the research, we find the strength and phase of the gap flow play an important role in the vortex formatting process. The vortices shedding from different cylinders neutralize and combine in the near wake, contributing a lot to the variation of forces.