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Dynamics and stability of gap-flow interference in a vibrating side-by-side arrangement of two circular cylinders. (English) Zbl 1415.76193
Summary: In this work, the coupled dynamics of the gap flow and the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a side-by-side (SBS) arrangement of two circular cylinders is numerically investigated at Reynolds numbers $$100\leqslant Re\leqslant 500$$. The influence of VIV is incorporated by allowing one of the cylinders to vibrate freely in the transverse direction, which is termed as a vibrating side-by-side (VSBS) arrangement. A comparative three-dimensional study is performed between the stationary side-by-side (SSBS) and the VSBS arrangements to examine the characteristics of the complex coupling between the VIV and the gap flow. The results are also contrasted against the isolated configurations without any proximity and gap-flow interference. Of particular interest is to establish a relationship between the VIV, the gap flow and the near-wake instability behind bluff bodies. We find that the kinematics of the VIV regulates the streamwise vorticity concentration, which accompanies a recovery of the two-dimensional hydrodynamic response at the peak lock-in. Moreover, the near-wake instability may develop around an indeterminant two-dimensional streamline saddle point along the interfaces of a pair of imbalanced counter-signed vorticity clusters. The interaction between the imbalanced vorticity clusters and the gap-flow momentum are closely interlinked with the prominence of streamwise vortical structures. In both SSBS and VSBS arrangements, the flip-flopping frequency is significantly low for the three-dimensional flow, except at the VIV lock-in for the VSBS arrangement. While an early onset of VIV lock-in is observed for the vibrating configuration, a quasi-stable deflected gap-flow regime with stably deflected gap flow is found at the peak lock-in. The increase of the gap-flow proximity interference promotes the energy transfer and stabilizes the VIV lock-in. Finally, we employ the dynamic mode decomposition procedure to characterize the space-time evolution of the vortex wake system behind the cylinders.

##### MSC:
 76D25 Wakes and jets 74F10 Fluid-solid interactions (including aero- and hydro-elasticity, porosity, etc.) 76D17 Viscous vortex flows 76D05 Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluids
##### Keywords:
flow-structure interactions; vortex flows; wakes/jets
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