Discussion Meeting on Flow Control and Diagnostics

19-22 February 2006, Coorg, India

PHASE-AVERAGED 2D PIV MEASUREMENTS ON A CYLINDER WITH

FORWARD SPLITTER PLATE
L Venkatakrishnan, K T Madhavan, P R Viswanath
Experimental Aerodynamics Division, National Aerospace laboratories, Bangalore, India

ABSTRACT:
Phase locked PIV measurements were carried out on a 2D circular cylinder with a forward splitter plate at a
subcritical Reynolds number ReD (based on the cylinder diameter) of 5.33x104. The measurements were carried out at
eight phases over a shedding cycle. The results show the vortex shedding is inhibited in the presence of the FSP.
Additionally, the reduction in drag is seen at each of the phase angles in addition to being lower in the time-averaged
data.

1. INTRODUCTION
Flow past a circular cylinder at subcritical Reynolds numbers and the mechanism of vortex shedding, in
particular, have been the subject of numerous studies in literature. From an engineering view point, the
interest generally has been on drag reduction or minimizing levels of unsteady forces. Mean drag
reduction, also results in the inhibition of vortex shedding and a reduction of unsteady load levels. A
variety of passive devices have been used; an excellent review and classification of these devices is seen
in Zradkovich[1]. The most popular of these passive devices is a backward splitter plate (BSP) [2,3,4,5]
which reduces the communication between the top and bottom shear layers and weakens the coupling
between them. It has been shown [6,7,8] that vortex shedding can be suppressed for the ratio of plate length
(L) to cylinder diameter (D), L/D 5, leading to nearly steady near-wake features.
Viswanath et al[5] have shown that a Forward Splitter Plate (FSP) located in front along the longitudinal
symmetry plane can offer significant drag reduction comparable to that of a BSP on a 2D circular cylinder
(D=40mm)at sub-critical Reynolds numbers can be achieved by employing a. Detailed measurements [5]
showed that the total drag reduction resulted from combined effects of lower surface pressures in the
stagnation zone due to boundary layer separation on the FSP and increased base pressure. They also
showed through hot-wire measurements, a 25% increase in the vortex shedding frequency resulting from
nose-streamlining of the FSP-cylinder combination and a reduction in peak amplitude of the streamwise
turbulent intensity associated with vortex shedding. They also found that a FSP with L/D =1, provided
maximum drag reduction. Recently Madhavan[9] made phase-averaged LDV measurements (using time-
series approach) in the near wake of a circular cylinder, both with and without an FSP at a ReD (based on
the cylinder diameter) of 5.33x104. Table 1 gives a brief summary of test conditions and major
observations; CD values were estimated based on mean velocity measurements in the wake after
ascertaining mean two-dimensionality of the flow. Based on limited test data Madhavan[9] showed that the
wake velocity profiles, both time-averaged and phase-averaged, exhibited relatively lower momentum
defect consistent with the mean drag reduction observed (32%, Table 1).
PIV enables a complete 2D map of the instantaneous velocity field and is exploited here to study the near-
wake structure of 2D circular cylinder including effects of an FSP with test conditions identical to those
studied by Madhavan[9] in the same wind tunnel. In an earlier study, Krothapalli et al [10], carried out
phase-locked PIV measurements on a 2D cylinder and the effect of placing a control cylinder/ airfoil
immediately outside the wake shear layer. They found a reduction in size of the recirculation region
accompanied by a significant reduction in the base pressure fluctuation.
In this study, tests were made for the case of an FSP with L=D, corresponding to maximum CD
reduction at a ReD of 5.33x104. We present here some of the features of the near-wake field as modified
by the FSP. Circular Cylinder

Glass Window

550 mm
U = 20m/s

2070mm

ReD = 5.3 x 104

Measurement zone

U = 20m/s Hotwire location

y
40 mm

y=0 x

Forward Splitter Plate 160 mm

40mm long 160 mm
x/D = 0 x/D=4 x/D = 8.0

Figure 1. Experimental Setup

Dia. ReD CDT CDT Cpb Cpb Shedding Shedding Drag

(mm) w/o w w/o w Frq. w/o Frq. with Red. w
FSP FSP FSP FSP FSP (Hz) FSP (Hz) FSP
Madhavan [9] 40 5.3 x 104 1.18 0.81 -1.19 -0.71 100 122 ~32%
Viswanath et 25 6.2 x 104 1.08 0.79 -1.20 -0.72 265 330 ~34%
al [5]
Table 1.

2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

2.1 Test Facility and model configuration

Experiments were carried out in the 55x55cm low speed wind tunnel at NAL. The 2-D circular cylinder
had a diameter (D) of 40mm and span of 550mm. For the study involving a forward splitter plate, a plate
length (L) of 40mm was used in order to provide maximum drag reduction [5]. Fig.1 shows the details of
the model and wind tunnel setup. Measurements were made at a freestream velocity (U) of 20m/s; the
corresponding Reynolds number ReD (based on the cylinder diameter) was 5.33x104.

2.2 PIV Setup

The flow-field with seed particles was illuminated by a double pulsed, frequency doubled dual Nd: YAG,
PIV 400 laser. The optimum performance of the laser is at 15 Hz. It was therefore possible to obtain 15
pairs of images per second using this laser. The laser was mounted on a platform at the height of the
tunnel floor and not in physical contact with the tunnel (to avoid possible vibrations to the system). The
beam steering was achieved by a pair of Nd-YAG mirrors mounted on the base and carrier of the vertical
axis of a 2-D traverse. With this arrangement, the beam could be positioned at any point in a 2-D plane
perpendicular to the flow. The beam then passed through the beam forming optics and was spread as a
thin (0.8mm) sheet of light with nearly flat intensity profile in the measurement plane using a
combination of negative and positive spherical lenses and a cylindrical lens. The sheet entered the tunnel
at the center of the test section through a window in the tunnel roof. This ensured that the sheet did not
vibrate during tunnel runs and yield spurious turbulence data.
The velocity field was measured in a 2D plane parallel to the freestream. The flow was imaged in two
zones of 160mm x 160mm each with an overlap of 20mm, using a Kodak ES 1.4 progressive scan digital
CCD camera having a sensor resolution of 1008(H) x 1018(V) pixels. The camera was mounted on a
vertical post, which was firmly fixed on the laboratory floor. A Nikon 50mm normal lens was used as the
imaging optics for the CCD. This provided a near flat focus of the viewing area at a distance of 1m. The
CCD camera operated in synchronization with the laser pulsing. The synchronization of the laser pulsing
with camera and the grabbing of the images are carried out using IDT-1000 controller from IDT systems,
USA. The PIV image acquisition and processing was carried out by IDT ProVISION software. This
optical arrangement along with the chosen square interrogation size of 24 pixels resulted in a physical
resolution of 3.8mm x 3.8mm for the data.

2.3 Triggering Circuit

A phase-locking circuit for PIV measurements was designed as follows. A hotwire sensor is placed at in
the shear layer of the cylinder (at x- 1.5D, y = 1.5D; D: diameter of the cylinder). A constant temperature
anemometer (CTA) is used to obtain the velocity fluctuations from the sensor corresponding to the vortex
shedding in the cylinder wake. The output signal from CTA (with noise, jitter, non-uniformity etc.) is
filtered by a band-pass filter, as shown in the figure, to obtain a smooth sinusoidal signal corresponding to
the shedding pattern (fs = 100Hz). This output is converted to a sequence of TTL pulses using a Schmitt
Trigger circuit and is passed to the IDT controller, which generates the necessary trigger pulse at selected
phase.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

PIV measurements were carried out both in the time-averaged and phase-averaged sense. For all
conditions, 300 instantaneous velocity fields were averaged to obtain the mean velocity field which is
found to give statistically stable results. In the following sections the time-averaged and phase-averaged
data are presented. It may be noted that data are presented here only to a streamwise extent of 4D to
emphasize near-wake features and for clarity.
3.1 Time-averaged data
Figure 2a and 2b present the time-averaged velocity fields without and with FSP from the cylinder edge
to a distance of 4D. It may be seen that the streamwise velocity profiles are plotted 0.25D apart for
clarity. The mean closure is inferred to be 1.3D and about 0.8D for the two flows without and with FSP.
U re f = 2 0 m /s U re f = 2 0 m /s

2 2

1 .5 1 .5
(a) (b)
1 1

0 .5 0 .5
y/D

y/D

0 0

-0 .5 -0 .5

-1 -1

-1 .5 -1 .5

-2 -2
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
x /D x /D

Figure 2. Time-averaged velocity field (a) without FSP (b) with FSP
This change in mean closure obviously reflects the increased base pressure in presence of FSP (see Table
1) which is due to the nose-streamlining effect of the FSP on the cylinder, as discussed by Viswanath et
al [5]. An explicit comparison of the mean velocity profiles both without and with FSP at a streamwise
location of 6D is shown in Figure 3. A mild asymmetry may be seen in the profiles which may be arising
because of the asymmetric vortex shedding in the flow and the streamwise location of 6D is still in some
sense in the near wake. Integration of the velocity profiles to obtain CD (with the assumption that the local
pressure is same as P) yields values of 1.08 and 0.89 for the cases of no FSP and with FSP respectively,
broadly in excellent consistency with those results reported by Madhavan[9] for the test conditions.

No FSP
FSP

1
y/D

-1

0 5 10 15 20 25
Umean m/s

Figure 3. Velocity defect profiles at x/D=6 from time-averaged PIV data.

-1
z (s ): -110 -75 -39 -4 32 67 103 z (s -1): -110 -75 -39 -4 32 67 103
2 2

1.5 1.5
(a) (b)
1 1

0.5 0.5
y/D

y/D

0 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

-1.5 -1.5

-2 -2
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
x/D x/D
Figure 4. Time-averaged vorticity field (a) without FSP (b) with FSP

Figure 4a, b show the time-averaged vorticity plots bringing out certain salient features of the
modification of the near-wake structures in the presence of FSP. The mean flow field appears largely
symmetric which is to be expected, and the streamwise zone of the shed vorticity field is significantly
reduced in the presence of FSP. A detailed analysis of the vorticity field indicates a reduction of about
25% in the intensity of the shed vortex with FSP which explicitly shows weakening of the shed vortex
consistent with reduced base pressure and mean drag reduction.

3.2 Phase-averaged data

The vortex shedding process of a circular cylinder is known to exhibit a plane of symmetry about the x-
axis with a phase lag of 180o. Earlier efforts to catalog such cylinder flows often exploited this feature and
reflected the data to reduce the experimental effort considerably. This was not necessary here, as the
entire XY plane was mapped with 2D PIV and Figure 5 shows reasonable symmetry of the flow for the
plain cylinder at values of 0o and 180o.
 PHASE 0
Umean: -3.076 0.257 3.589 6.922 10.255 13.588 16.921 20.254 PHASE 180
Umean: -3.076 0.257 3.589 6.922 10.255 13.588 16.921 20.254
1.5
1.5
(a) (b)
1 1

0.5 0.5
y/D

y/D
0 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

-1.5 -1.5
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3
x/D x/D

Figure 5. Phase-averaged velocity field at of (a) 0o and (b) 180 o showing reflective symmetry in x-axis.

Figure 6a, b shows an example comparing the phase-averaged velocity field at one phase =0 o both
without and with the FSP. The vectors are color coded to the magnitude of the velocity. Data are shown
only till x/D=4 with alternate vectors for clarity.
Uref=20m/s Uref=20m/s
Umean (m/s): 0 4 7 11 14 18 22 Umean: 0 4 7 11 14 18 22
2 2

1.5 1.5

(a) (b)
1 1

0.5 0.5
y/D

y/D

0 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

-1.5 -1.5

-2 -2
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
x/D x/D
o
Figure 6. Phase-averaged velocity field at =0 (a) without FSP (b) with FSP

The data show that the vortex shedding is significantly modified by the presence of the FSP; in particular,
the lateral extent of the shedding is considerably reduced and the wake structure appears a little more
organized. This feature is again consistent with the separation location moving downstream reducing the
wake width as discussed by Viswanath et al [9]. Figure 7a, b show the velocity defect at x/D=3.9 for =
0o and 90o. While the assumption of constant static pressure at this point in the near wake region may not

Without FSP =0o Without FSP =90

o

With FSP =0o Without FSP =90o

1 1
y/D

y/D

0 0

-1 -1

10 15 20 25 15 20 25
Umean (m/s) Umean (m/s)

Figure 7. Velocity defect profiles at x/D=3.9 for =0 o and =90o, without and with FSP.

be justified, nevertheless, the velocity defect is generally lower in the presence of FSP for both phases.
 This suggests that FSP results in lower momentum defect not only in the time-averaged sense, but also in
an instantaneous sense.
z (s-1): -110 -72 -33 5 44 82 z (s-1): -110 -72 -33 5 44 82
2 2

1.5 1.5
(a) (b)
1 1

0.5 0.5
y/D

y/D
0 0

-0.5 -0.5

-1 -1

-1.5 -1.5

-2 -2
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
x/D x/D
o
Figure 8. Phase-averaged vorticity field at =0 (a) without FSP (b) with FSP

A sample of phase-averaged vorticity field is shown in Figure 8. Following features are noted. There is
some degree of asymmetry about the x-axis and further the vorticity is more concentrated without FSP
and more diffuse with FSP. Analysis of the data shows that the strength of the vortex is reduced by about
20% in the presence of the FSP, which is again consistent with mean vorticity change observed. (Fig. 4).

4. CONCLUSION
Phase-averaged 2D PIV measurements have been made on a circular cylinder bringing out certain
changes in the near-wake flow structure caused by the presence of a Forward Splitter Plate.
The time-averaged and phase-averaged velocity and vorticity measurements indicate that the strength of
the shed vortex and its lateral extent is considerably reduced due to the presence of FSP. Furthermore, a
reduced momentum defect seen in the presence of FSP is consistent with the increased base pressure and
a consequent reduction in total drag observed. More detailed analysis of the near-wake flow in the range
of 4-8D is underway. The above observations made with detailed PIV measurements provide significant
support to the observations made by Madhavan [9] using limited LDV test data.

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