Numerical simulation of an oscillating cylinder in a cross-flow at low Reynolds number: Forced and free oscillations

A numerical simulation of the flow past a circular cylinder which is able to oscillate transversely to the incident stream is presented in this paper for a fixed Reynolds number equal to 100. The 2D Navier–Stokes equations are solved by a finite volume method with an industrial CFD code in which a coupling procedure has been implemented in order to obtain the cylinder displacement. A preliminary work is first conducted for a fixed cylinder to check the wake characteristics for Reynolds numbers smaller than 150 in the laminar regime. The Strouhal frequency fS and the aerodynamic coefficients are thus controlled among other parameters. Simulations are then performed with forced oscillations characterized by the frequency ratio F = f0/fS, where f0 is the forced oscillation frequency, and by the adimensional amplitude A. The wake characteristics are analyzed using the time series of the fluctuating aerodynamic coefficients and their power spectral densities (PSD). The frequency content is then linked to the shape of the phase portraits and to the vortex shedding mode. By choosing interesting couples (A, F), different vortex shedding modes have been observed, which are similar to those of the Williamson–Roshko map. A second batch of simulations involving free vibrations (so-called vortex-induced vibrations or VIV) is finally carried out. Oscillations of the cylinder are now directly induced by the vortex shedding process in the wake and therefore, the time integration of the motion is realized by an explicit staggered algorithm which provides the cylinder displacement according to the aerodynamic charges exerted on the cylinder wall. Amplitude and frequency response of the cylinder are thus investigated over a wide range of reduced velocities to observe the different phenomena at stake. In particular, the vortex shedding modes have also been related to the frequency response observed and our results at Re = 100 show a very good agreement with other studies using different numerical approaches.