On the effects of surface corrugation on the hydrodynamic performance of cylindrical rigid structures

Eur Phys J E Soft Matter. 2018 Aug 24;41(8):95. doi: 10.1140/epje/i2018-11703-y.

Abstract

In this work, we perform fully three-dimensional numerical simulations of the flow field surrounding cylindrical structures characterized by different types of corrugated surface. The simulations are carried out using the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), considering a flow regime with a Reynolds number [Formula: see text]. The fluid-dynamic wake structure and stability are investigated by means of PSD analyses of the velocity components and by visual inspection of the vortical coherent structure evolution. Moreover, the energy dissipation of the flow is assessed by considering an equivalent discharge coefficient [Formula: see text], which measures the total pressure losses of the flow moving around the various layout under investigation. Outcomes from our study demonstrate that the helical ridges augment energy dissipation, but might also have a role in the passive control of the characteristic frequencies of the unsteady wake flow.

Keywords: Topical issue: Fluids and Structures: Multi-scale coupling and modeling.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Hydrodynamics*
  • Kinetics
  • Surface Properties