EFFECT OF SQUARE CYLINDER ARRANGEMENT PATTERNS AND SIZE PARAMETERS ON FLUID FLOW BEHAVIOR AND RESULTANT FORCES

In this study, the impact of the dimensions of square cylinders placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle on wake flow behavior is investigated. Numerical computations, using the finite volume method and a full multigrid technique, are employed to solve the governing equations. Three primary configurations of the cylinder positions in the equilateral triangle are considered. The study examines the effects of various parameters, specifically the cylinder dimensions and the Reynolds number, on the flow pattern. The flow characteristics for the three-cylinder arrangements are analyzed in terms of iso-vortices across different flow regimes, including crawling, steady, and unsteady regimes. The study particularly focuses on the combined influence of the Reynolds number and the configurations on the evolution profiles of the lift and drag coefficients. The numerical results reveal that the lift and drag values vary significantly depending on the configuration and cylinder dimension, especially as the Reynolds number is varied monotonously within certain ranges.