Two- and Three-Dimensional Simulations of the Flow Around a Cylinder Fitted With Strakes

Two- and three-dimensional simulations of the flow around straked cylinders are presented. For the two-dimensional simulations we used the Spectral/hp Element Method, and carried out simulations for five different angles of rotation of the cylinder with respect to the free stream. Fixed and elastically-mounted cylinders were tested, and the Reynolds number was kept constant and equal to 150. The results were compared to those obtained from the simulation of the flow around a bare cylinder under the same conditions. We observed that the two-dimensional strakes are not effective in suppressing the vibration of the cylinders, but also noticed that the responses were completely different even with a slight change in the angle of rotation of the body. The three-dimensional results showed that there are two mechanisms of suppression: the main one is the decrease in the vortex shedding correlation along the span, whilst a secondary one is the vortex wake formation farther downstream.