Influence of gap thickness on aerodynamic forces and flow structures of circular cylinders under passive-suction-jet control

A parametric study of the passive-suction-jet control scheme was experimentally performed for the cylinder model. The dependence of the control effectiveness on the gap thickness was determined for a cylinder model controlled by passive-suction-jet pipes at Reynolds number (Re) values ranging from 20,000 to 60,000. The fluid forces and flow structure were measured on a cylinder model without any control and used to evaluate the control effectiveness. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis, phase average, and triple decomposition were applied to the flow fields to explore the control mechanism. The results show that the pipe control was most effective when the gap thickness was 0.075D. Too large or too small a gap thickness was not beneficial for controlling the resistance level, and the fluctuating lift was reduced to a tiny level as the thickness increased to 0.075D. The steady jets ejected from the leeward slots rolled up into several small-scale standing vortices. These vortices modified the streamline topology of the model, developing a new saddle point in the wake. Moreover, the roll-up of the separated shear layers was restrained by the pipe, which inhibited the vortex formation and shedding processes and the unsteady forces exerted on the model.