Flow-excited acoustic resonance of two tandem cylinders in cross-flow

The aeroacoustic response of two tandem cylinders in cross-flow is investigated experimentally. Eleven spacing ratios between the cylinders, in the range of L/D=1.2-4.5, have been tested to investigate the effect of the gap between the cylinders on the excitation mechanism of acoustic resonance. During the tests, the acoustic cross-modes of the duct housing the cylinders are self-excited. Similar tests are performed on isolated cylinders. The aeroacoustic response of the tandem cylinders is found to be considerably different from that of isolated cylinders. For isolated cylinders, acoustic resonance of a given mode occurs over a single range of flow velocity and is excited by the natural vortex shedding process observed in the absence of acoustic resonance. In the case of tandem cylinders with a spacing ratio inside the proximity region, L/D is less than 3.5, the resonance occurs over two different ranges of flow velocity. One of these ranges is similar to that observed for isolated cylinders and the other occurs at much lower flow velocities. The latter resonance range seems to be triggered by the instability of the separated flow in the gap between the cylinders. Outside the proximity region, the aeroacoustic response of the two tandem cylinders is similar to that of isolated cylinder.