Vortex shedding and acoustic resonance of single and tandem finned cylinders

The effect of fins on vortex shedding and acoustic resonance is investigated for isolated and two tandem cylinders exposed to cross-flow in a rectangular duct. Three spacing ratios between the tandem cylinders (S/De=1.5, 2 and 3) are tested for a Reynolds number range from 1.6×104 to 1.1×105. Measurements of sound pressure as well as mean and fluctuating velocities are performed for bare and finned cylinders with three different fin densities. The effect of fins on the sound pressure generated before the onset of acoustic resonance as well as during the pre-coincidence and coincidence resonance is found to be rather complex and depends on the spacing ratio between cylinders, the fin density and the nature of the flow–sound interaction mechanism.For isolated cylinders, the fins reduce the strength of vortex shedding only slightly, but strongly attenuate the radiated sound before and during the occurrence of acoustic resonance. This suggests that the influence of the fins on correlation length is stronger than on velocity fluctuations. In contrast to isolated cylinders, the fins in the tandem cylinder case enhance the vortex shedding process at off-resonant conditions, except for the large spacing case which exhibits a reversed effect at high Reynolds numbers. Regarding the acoustic resonance of the tandem cylinders, the fins promote the onset of the coincidence resonance, but increasing the fin density drastically weakens the intensity of this resonance. The fins are also found to suppress the pre-coincidence resonance for the tandem cylinders with small spacing ratios (S/De=1.5, 2 and 2), but for the largest spacing case (S/De=3), they are found to have minor effects on the sound pressure and the lock-in range of the pre-coincidence resonance.

► The effect of fins on aeroacoustics of single and tandem cylinders.
► Three spacing ratios and three fin densities are investigated.
► Fins promote the onset of coincidence resonance of tandem cylinders.
► Fins appear to suppress the pre-coincidence resonance of tandem cylinders.
► Increasing the fin density weakens the acoustic resonance.