Numerical study on flow over a confined oscillating cylinder with a splitter plate

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of the simultaneous usage of active and passive methods (which in this case are rotational oscillation and attached splitter plate, respectively) on the flow and temperature fields to find an optimum situation which this combination results in heat transfer increment and drag reduction. Design/methodology/approach The method of the solution was based on finite volume discretization of Navier–Stokes equations. A dynamic grid is coupled with the solver by the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation for modeling cylinder oscillation. Parametric studies were performed by altering oscillation frequency, splitter plate length and Reynolds number. Findings Oscillation in different frequencies was found to be complicated. Higher frequencies provide more heat transfer, but in the lock-on region, they bring remarkable increment to the drag coefficient. It was observed that simultaneous usage of oscillation and splitter plate may have both positive and negative effects on drag reduction and heat transfer increment. Finally F = 2 and L = 0.5 were chosen as an optimum combination. Originality/value In this study, the laminar incompressible flow and heat transfer from a confined rotationally oscillating circular cylinder with an attached splitter plate are investigated. Parametric studies are performed by changing oscillation frequency, splitter plate length and Reynolds number.