Control of circular cylinder wakes using base mass transpiration

Abstract

The effect of steady base suction and blowing on the stability and dynamics of the cylinder wake is investigated at low Reynolds numbers, using numerical simulation and stability analysis. Simulation results show that, in the supercritical Reynolds number regime (Re>47), slight blowing or high enough suction stabilizes the wake; in the subcritical regime, suction destabilizes the wake and results in vortex shedding, whereas blowing has no detectable effect on the flow stability. At supercritical Reynolds numbers, the transition from unsteady to steady flow at a critical suction flow rate is accompanied by simultaneous symmetry breaking, resulting in strongly asymmetric steady flow. For finite flow domain, the flow undergoes another transition from steady asymmetric to steady symmetric flow at even higher suction flow rates. The dynamics of vortex shedding in the controlled flow can be strongly modified, in comparison to the uncontrolled flow. Global stability analysis confirms the results of numerical simulation, and yields detailed information on the dynamics of linear global modes. Computational domain size can significantly affect the flow transitions, in particular, at high suction flow rates.