Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 4 I- 44 (1992) 577-588 577

Elsevier

Fluctuating Pressure on Two Circular Cylinders at

High Reynolds Numbers

T . F . Sun a, Z . F . Gu a, D . X . He ~andL.Lo Zbang b

~Department of Mechanics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

blnstitute of Low Speed Aerodynamics, CARDC, Siehuan 62100, China

Abstract
In this paper the fluctuating pressure on two circular cylinders in a number of
arrangements (including in tandem, side-by-side and staggered) subjected in a
smooth cross flow are given at high subcritical Reynolds number ( 3 . 2 5 X 105)
and supercritical Reynolds number ( 6 . 5 ) < 105) respectively. The results show
that the interference effect on fluctuating pressure are weaker at supercritical
Reynolds number than that at subcritical ones. In certain eases it may have very
different features at these two Reynolds numbers.

1. INTRODUCTION

In many cases of engineering practices and structures, circular cylinder is one

of the structural components mostly employed and they often appear in group, e.
g. , groups of chimney stacks, overhead power-line bundles, tubes in heat ex-
changers, chemical reaction-towers, off-shore platforms, etc. The pressure dis-
tribution and forces acting on cylinder in group may be very different from that
of sin$'c (isolated) one due to mutual interference. On the other hand, many in-
teresting or unexpected fluid phenomena may happen[-l ] and therefore grouping-
effect is also a very interesting subject of fundamental research in fluid mechan-
ics. Two circular cylinders is the simplest ease of group and thus attracts the at-
tention of many research workers, especially in the last two decades. Extensive
reviews were given by ZdravkovichE2-1 and Ohya, et al. !-3-1 But most work on
cylinder group reported in literatures so far are limited to subcritieal Reynolds
number and low-turbulence flow. To the authors' knowledge, the only work on
two circular cylinders in supereritical Reynolds number was done by Okajima~4,
5"1. As in the case of a single circular cylinder in cross-flow, each of the individ-

0167-6105/92/S05.00 © 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.

578

ua! cylinders in a group will be subjected to both time-varying and time-mean

pressures and forces, even more pronounced due to grouping-effect. These pres-
sores vary with the arrangement of cylinders, which are usually classified as tan-
dem, side-by-side and staggered. Moreover, as for flow around single cylinder,
Reynolds number, turbulence intensity of oncoming flow and the surface rough-
hess are the most important influential parameters. It is well known that the
problems of wind loadings on the structures mentioned above are usually related
with high Reynolds number of order 107 , high turbulence intensity larger than
100~ in oncoming flow and rough surfaces of cylinders.
Okajima['4-I studied two tandem circular cylinders, at Reynolds number from
0. 8 X 105 to 4 . 0 X 105 by means of measuring forces and of using the surface
oil-flow technique for flow visualization. He noted that in the suberitical flow
regime, there occurred distinct step-like jumps of drag coefficients at critical gap
ratio of 3 . 8 , and in supereritical flow regime the positiol~s of the laminar bubbles
and flow separation hardly changed with the gap ratios. The latter means that the
drag coefficients of two tandem cylinders remain nearly constant, regardless of
the gap ratio. Okajima et al. [ 5 ] also studied two side-by-side cylinders for
Reynolds numbes from 0. 25 X 105 to 4 . 5 )< 105. No biased flow like that at sub-
critical Reynolds number may be observed ,tt supercritieal one. Effect of differ-
ent intensities of turbulence on aerodynamic forces of two circular cylinders at
Reynolds number of I )< 105 was investigated by Zhang and Melbourne['6]. As
for fluctuating pressure, the results are very limited. Arie, et al. [-7]presented
fluctuating pressure on the surface of two tandem circular cylinders at high sub-
critical Reynolds number of Re-----1.57 )< 10 s. It shows that the rms surface pres-
sure was much higher for the rear cylinder than for front cylinder and that, for
both cylinders, the rms pressure obtained a highest level just beyond the critical
gap ratio of 3. 8. No results of fluctuating pressures at supercritical Reynolds
number has been known to the present authors.
In recent years, the pressure distributions (time-mean as well as fluctuating)
and aerodynamic forces on two two-dimensional circular cylinders at high
Reynolds numbers have been studied systematically by Peking University using
wind tunnel tests. The test Reynolds numbers range from 2. 5 )< 105 to 9 X 10 s ,
and gap ratios from 1.05 to 7. The arrangements of two circular cylinders in-
elude tandem, side-by-side, and staggered. Two different uniform oncoming
streams of intensites of turbulence of 0. 12 ~ and 10 ~ have been tested. The re-
suits of fluctuating pressure on two cylinders in several eases at Reynolds num-
bers of 3 . 2 5 × 10 s and 6.5)< 10 s in low turbulent uniform flow are presented in
this paper.

2. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND DATA REDUCTION

Test was done in uniform stream of a Io v-speed wind tunnel at CARDC (Chi-
na Aerodynamic Research and Development Center). The test section is 4m
wide, 3m high and 8m long. Maximum speed may reach 90 m / s and turbulent
 579

intensity is 0. 12 ~ .
The circular cylinders tested were seamless steel tube with machine-finished
surface. They were of :identical size of diameter of 198 mm. Each circular cylin-
der was composed of three sections. Pressure taps were provided every ten de-
~:o'ees around circumference at mid-span of the middle section. The cylinders
were set up vertically in guide-ways fixed on upper and lower turning tables in
the center of test section. No end plates were used.
The measurement ~ystem of the surface pressure consisted of pressure trans-
ducers ( P D C R - - 2 3 D ) , Scanivalve ( S G M - - 4 8 ) , DC amplifier ( 6 M 7 2 ) and
tape recorder (TEAC X R - - 2 3 C ) . The signals on the tape were analyzed later by
A / D converter and ndcro-computer (IBM P C / X T ) to obtain the rms values and
power spectra.
In order to obtain frequ~mcy response as high as possible, the Scanivalve set
was mounted inside t.he cyli~nder. Plastic tubes with restrictors connecting the taps
to Scanivalve were about 200mm long. The frequency response of this system
was measured such that, when the frequency was below 125 Hz, the relative er-
ror of value of aml/~litude was less than 1 ~ and phase delay might be ignored.
Only one cylinder was instrumented. The other one was used as dummy for in-
terference effect. By interchanging their positions, one has pressure distributions
for both cylinders.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing arrangement of two circular cylinders

Schematic diagram showing various arrangements of tkv cylinders is shown in

Fig. 1. The diameter of cylinder is denoted by d and distance between centers of
two cyli~ders by N. N / d gives the gap ratio between two cylinders. The angle of
wind direction [~ is defined as the angle between the oncoming flow and the line
connectiLng centers of two cylinders.
According to usual practice, the measured instantaneous pressure P (0, t) is ex-
pressed as the sum of time-mean pressure P(0) and fluctuating pressure P ' (0,t).
Mean t~ressure coefficient Cp(0) and fluctuating pressure coefficient Cp' (0) are
defined, respectively, as
580

[-P(0)--Poo] Cp' (0) Crp(0)

Cp(0)= 1/2pooVoo2 ' 1/2pooV~o2

where 0 is the azimuth angle measured from the wind direction, positive clock-
wise. t is the time. P ~ , pod and Voo denote the pressure, density and velocity of
oncoming flow respectively, err(0) is the rms value of P ' ( 0 , t ) .
Reynolds number Re is defined as p~,Vood/~t, where ~t is the viscosity of fluid.
Only two Reynolds numbers were used in the measurement of fluctuating pres-
sure, i.e. 3 . 2 5 X 105 as the high subcritical Reynolds number and 6 . 5 X 106 as
the supercritieal one.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Single cylinder

Pressure distributions around single cylinder were measured first and were used
as the basis of comparison and discussion for interference effect. The mean pres-
sure distributions over single cylinder are shown in Fig. 2 for two Reynolds
numbers. At R e = 3.25)< 105 , the Cp vs. 0 curve has the general characteris-
tics of the laminar-separated flow around cylinder at suberitieal Re, with separa-
tion angle at 0=-90*,instead of 80* for Re of order of 104. At R e = 6 . 5 ) < 10 s,
the Cp vs. 0 curve has a small plateau after Cpmi,, a typical "laminar separation
bubble". It means that there exists a laminar separation, followed by transition,
reattaehment and finally turbulent separation around 120". For the fluctuating
(rms) pressure distributions(Fig. 4 , 5 ) , there are significant difference between
these two Reynolds numbers. The values of amplitude of Cp' at supereritieal
Reynolds number are much smaller than that at suberitieal one and the Ideation of
the peak value of Cp' shifts backward 5 degrees. The agreement of the present
results of Cp' vs. 0 at these two Reynolds numbers and that given by Cheung ~.
Melbourne C7~ is satisfactory, considering the difference of the test Reynolds
numbers and of turbulence intensities. The power spectra of pressure (Exam-
ples at 0 = 90* are shown in Fig. 3) at R e = 3 . 2 5 × 105 show that from 0 = 0* to
120", the peaks can be observed clearly at frequency of 2 4 . 5 Hz. It means that
there are regular vortex shedding from the surface of cylinder, a well-known
feature of suberitical flow regime. According to definition of Strouhal number St
=f~d/V~o (where f, denotes frequency of vortex shedding) the present result gives
S, = 0. 19. At R e = 6 . 5 X 105 no peak value can be observed around the entire
circumference of cylinder.

3.2 Two cylinders in tandem

At ['-3=0 °, the cylinders are in tandem arrangement. Fig. 2 shows the mean
pressure distributions on front and rear cylinders at two Reynolds numbers. In
general, at either Reynolds number there are certain effects of rear cylinder upon
 581

front one, essentially on the values of minimum pressure Cp,,i, and of base pres-
sure Cpb. These effects are due to proximity in nature and are relatively stronger
at subcritical Reynolds number than at supercritical one. On the other hand,
wake effect of front cylinder on rear cylinder is very pronounced. At subcritical
Reynolds number, the pressure on rear cylinders at N / d - - 2. 2, 3. 5 and 4 . 0 are
all negative and Cp vs. 0 curves have different characteristics for different gap ra-
tios. At supereritical Re, the pressures around the stagnation of rear cylinder are
positive and the Cp,,,i, and Cp~ decrease as N / d increases. The latter effect is obvi-
ously the result of narrower wake regions at supercritical Re. The fluctuating
pressure distribution Cp' vs. 0 curves of front and rear cylinders at different gap
ratios N / d are given in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 for suberitical and supereritieal Reynolds
number respectively. When Re = 3 . 2 5 )< 105 , the values of Cp' of front cylin-
der, compared with single one, reduce by a large amount (Fig. 4 ( a ) ) . It
means that the existence of rear cylinder suppresses the pressure flutuation on two

Cp
1.0 Ik
P=O ° =
0.5 Re:6.5OxlO
Cp - - - - Front Cyl~..
Rear
1.0 0.0
¢)
[-
0.5 -0.5

0.0 -1.0

-0.5 -1.5

-1.0 -2.0
oooo N/.d=2.2 NZd=2a
-1.5 AA&& N/.d:3.5 N/.d=3.5
...o N/d:4.0 -2.5
• • * • Single ~o0" N/d-4.0
• °" Single
-2.0 , i I * . I . * I I l | I ' I • .
8" - 3 . 0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 0 30 60 90 120 150 180

(a) R e = 3 . 2 5 X 106 (b) R e = 6 . 5 × 1 0 s

Figure 2. Mean pressure distributions on single cylinder and on two cylinders in

tandem arrangement
582

Sp s°ll
Single Cyl. OS Single Cyl.
Re=3.25x1 Re=6^SOxl 0 s
8=90 ° 8=90"

Hz Hz
0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150

(a) R e = 3 . 2 5 X 10 ~ (b) R e - - 6 . 5 X 105

Figure 3. Power spectra for single circular cylinder at 0 = 9 0 °

C ~' Cp'
0.5 0.5
Front Cvl.
Re=3.2~×105
0.4 oooo N/.d=2.2
,,., z~A NXd=3.5 0.4
SlngTe
0.3 0.3

0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1

0,0 O° o o O
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 0 30 60 go 120 150 180

(a) Front cylinder (b) Rear cylinder

Figure 4. Fluctuating pressure distributions on single cylinder and on two cylin-

ders in tandem arrangement at Re=. 3. 25 X l0 ~
 583

sides of the front one. The corresponding spectrum (not shown in text) also
shows that the energy contained becomes smaller and the shedding frequency of
vortices reduces. For rear cylinder (Fig. 4 ( b ) ) , owing to wake flow of the
front one, Cp* increases tremendously, with peaks occurring first at 0 = 5 0 ° and
then in the neighborhood of 1 ] 0 °. At N / d = 4 . 0 , the rms pressures obtained
reach a very high level, which agrees with the results given in ET-]. When R e =
6 . 5 X 105 , the effect of rear cylinder on front one (Fig. 5 ( a ) ) may be neglect-
ed, including the effect of different N / d ~ s. Values of Cp*s of rear cylinder
(Fig. 5 ( b ) ) are larger than of single one but much smaller than that at 3 . 2 5 X
] 05. The peak values reach 0. 3 approximately at 0--- 30 o and 1 00 °. It may be in-
teresting to note that C,' distribution curve at N / d = 3 . 5 is very close to that at
4 . 0 , and is different from that at 2 . 2 . Another interesting feature at supercriti-
cal Reynolds number is that the rms values at stagnatioq points of rear cylinder
are almost same for differnt gap ratios.

3.3 Two cylinders in staggered arrangement

At 0 ° ~ 1 3 ~ 9 0 °, two cylinders are in staggered arrangement. Only one case of

C::)' Cp'
0.5 0.5
Front Cyl. 5 Rear Cyl. OS
Z,e=6.5xl 0 Re=6.Sxl
oooo N/d=2.2 oooo N/d=2.2
0.4 z~zxz~zxN"d=3.5 0.4 I zxzxzxzxN, ~d=3.5
:3==~ N~'d=4.0 nnmm Nz, d=4.0
Single Single

0.3 0.3

0.2 0.2

0.1 0.1

8° (9 °
0.0 --U-T 1 n J I l 1 I u I 1 I I I ' i
0.0
0 30 60 90 ~,20 ~.50 180 0 30 60 90 120 150 180

( a ) Front cylinder (b) Rear cyfinder

Figure 5. Fluctuating pressure distributions on single cylinder and on two cylin-

ders in tandem arrangement at R e = 6 . 2 5 X l0 s
584

N / d = 2 . 2 and 13= 12. 5* will be presented here. The fluctuating pressure distri-
butions Cp' vs. 0 curves are given in Fig. 6. At R e = 3 . 2 5 X 105 , it is seen that
most of the values of Cp ~ of the front cylinder is only half of that of single one,
but Cp' over a rather large region of the inner side of the rear cylinder are much
larger than that of single one with peak values ~ttaining 0. 4 4. Spectrum of rear
cylinder at 0 = 0 " (Fig. 7 ( a ) ) shows that the peak frequencies are two times of
that of front cylinder at 0 = 9 0 * (Fig. 7 ( b ) ) . It may be interpreted that rear
cylinder is acted upon by the vortices shedding alternately from both sides of
front one. This is in contrast to the fact that vortex shedding are suppressed for
two tandem cylinders at N / d = 2.2. During the test, vibrations of rear cylinder
were observed with bare eyes and the wind tunnel itself shook for 8 " < 1 3 < 18*,
but not other 13' s. It might be the result of resonance due to the coincidence of
the natural frequency of tunnel-model system and the shedding frequency of
large vortices in the gap between these two staggered cylinders['9-]. Its mecha-
nism needs further detailed investigation. At R e = 6 . 5 X 105 , no visual vibra-
tions of rear cylinder and tunnel were observed and no peak frequency might be
identified in the spectra (Fig. 8).

Cp'
0,5
N/d=2.2
~, id~ ~ /Y=12.5 °
0.4 t e t t~
05
i9,,• t It aI I~, o o o o Re=6.50x1Re=3"25x
=..= los
P I tl
0.3 tx I • ~ ~ Cyl. A - - - Cyl. B
O6 X Ib
P I X ¥I
0,2 I I ,=
E e=.., I ~"mmmt=
X,ID ', "_', j

0.1

0,0 0°
-180 -90 0 90 180

Figure 6. Fluctuating pressure distributions on two cylinders in staggered ar-

rangement of 13= 12.5*, N / d = 2 . 2
 585

Sp Cyl. B (Reor)
Sp
Cyl. A (Front)
N/d=2.~ ./d=2~
p= 12.5 OS B= 12.5 OS
Re=3.25x1 Re=3.25x1
O=O= e--900

Hz ~ = . I.. _ I
Hz
_ _ - = - - ' • I -=---

0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150

(a) Cyl. B (rear), 0--0 ° (b) Cy]. A (front),0---90 °

Figure 7. Power spectra of pressures on two cylinders in staggered arrangement

of [3-- 12.5 °, N / d = 2 . 2, Re-- 3 . 2 5 X l0 s

SPI Cyl. B (Rear) Sp Cyl. A (Front)

N/d=2~;! J N/d=2~
I
..
A=12.5 ~
~e=6.50x10'
II
IB
t~=12.5
~e=6.50x10 =
o ,l~i[ 0:90°

i ,' , ,', qlfl, Hz yz

0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150

(a) Cy 1. B (rear), 0 = 0* (b) Cyl. A ( f r o n t ) , 0 - - 9 0 °

Figure 8. Power spectra of pressures on two cylinders in staggered arrangement

of 13---12.5 °, N / d - - 2 . 2 , R e = 6 . 5 0 X 105
586

3.4 Two cylinders arranged side-by-side

At ~ - - 9 0 °, the two cylinders are in side-by-side arrangement. Fluctuating
pressure are investigated for N / d - - 2 . 2 . At R e - - 3 . 2 5 X 105(Fig. 9 ) , peak val-
ues of Cp ~ on the outer surfaces of both cylinders are larger than that of single
one and move rearward to about 100 °. The Cp' values on inner sides reduces
quite a lot, indicating that the existence of other cylinder suppresses the vortices
shedding from the inner surfaces and hence the pressure fluctuation. Spectrum
shows that there are peak frequencies on outside surfaces but none on inside ones.
On the other hand, at supercritical Reynolds number, R e - - 6 . 50 X 105 (Fig.
1 0 ) , Cp ~ values are much reduced, compared to that of subcritical one, but its
peak values are somewhat larger than that of single one.

Cp'
0.5
.8=90 °
N/d=2.2
0.4
M, Reffi3"25x10=
: ', oooo Cyl. B I~
0.3 f ~. " " " " Cvl A H

0.2

0.1

o
0.0 ,.,J--i===t~t=-A--t..A,=-I = L=A==4.=JI=. I,..,A. l= I..~--I-.L.,.A--L~ t...,t.=t~
===
80 -90 0 90 I 10

Figure 9. Fluctuating pressure distributions on two cylinders in side-by-side ar-

rangement of N/d-----2.2, R e = 3 . 2 5 X 1 0 5
 587

Cp'
0.5
p=90 °
N/d---2.2
0.4
Re=6.5OxlO s
o o o o Cyl. B
0.3 ,~AAA Cyt. A
" " " " Smgle

0.2 II "

0.1

o.0 0°
- 180 -90 0 90 180

Figure 10. Fluctuating pressure distributions on two cylinders in side-by-side ar-

rangement of N / d = 2 . 2, R e = 6 . 5 0 > < ]0 s

4. CONCLUSIONS

From the preliminary results given above and other cases tested in the present
program, one may conclude:
1. The interference effects on the fluctuating pressures of two neighboring cir-
cular cylinders of various arrangements are weaker at supercritical Reynolds
number than that at subcritical one.
2. For two cylinders in tandem arrangement, the minimum pressure and mean
pressure of the front cylinders increase algebraically and the pressure fluctuations
are suppressed due to proximity effect of rear cylinders. Due to wake effect of
front cylinders, the mean pressures on rear cylinders have very different features
between suberitical and supereritical Reynolds number. The rms pressure on rear
cylinder will reach a rather high level.
3. For side-by-side arrangement, the fluctuating pressures on or the vortices
shedding from the inner surfaces of both cylinders are suppressed due the effects
of proximity.
4. For certain cases of staggered arrangement (e. g. 13= 1 2 . 5 ° , N / d -- 2. 2)
high level of unsymmetric distribution of fluctuating pressure has been observed
at high suberitical Reynolds number, due to both wake and proximity effects.
Strong vibration of rear cylinder results. More detailed investigation will be car-
ried out.
588

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The work described in this paper was supported by National Natural Science
Foundation of China. The authors are very grateful to their colleagues of Peking
University and Institute of Low-speed Aerodynamics, CARDC, for their helps
during the wind-tunnel tests.

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