Symmetric vortex shedding in the near wake of a circular cylinder due to streamwise perturbations

Symmetric perturbations imposed on cylinder wakes may result in a modification of the vortex shedding mode from its natural antisymmetric, or alternating, to a symmetric one where twin vortices are simultaneously shed from both sides of the cylinder. In this paper, the symmetric mode in the wake of a circular cylinder is induced by periodic perturbations imposed on the in-flow velocity. The wake field is examined by PIV and LDV for Reynolds numbers about 1200 and for a range of perturbation frequencies between three and four times the natural shedding frequency of the unperturbed wake. In this range, a strong competition between symmetric and antisymmetric vortex shedding occurs for the perturbation amplitudes employed. The results show that symmetric formation of twin vortices occurs close to the cylinder synchronized with the oscillatory component of the flow. The symmetric mode rapidly breaks down and gives rise to an antisymmetric arrangement of vortex structures further downstream. The downstream wake may or may not be phase-locked to the imposed oscillation. The number of cycles for which the symmetric vortices persist in the near wake is a probabilistic function of the perturbation frequency and amplitude. Finally, it is shown that symmetric shedding is associated with positive energy transfer from the fluid to the cylinder due to the fluctuating drag.