Forces Induced by Flows Past Two Nearby Circular Cylinders

Flow-induced forces on two identical nearby circular cylinders immersed in the cross flow at Re=100 were numerically studied. We consider all possible arrangements of the two circular cylinders in terms of the distance between the two cylinders and the inclination angle with respect to the direction of the main flow. It turns out that significant changes in the characteristics of flow-induced forces are noticed depending on how the two circular cylinders are positioned, resulting in quantitative changes of force coefficients on both cylinders. Collecting all the numerical results obtained, we propose a contour diagram for drag coefficient and lift coefficient for each of the two cylinders. The perfect geometrical symmetry implied in the flow configuration allows one to use those diagrams to estimate flow-induced forces on two identical circular cylinders arbitrarily positioned in physical space with respect to the main flow direction