Flow development and structural loading on dual step cylinders in laminar shedding regime

The flow development over a dual step cylinder is investigated numerically at a Reynolds number (ReD) of 150 for a range of aspect ratios, 0.2 ≤ L/D ≤ 5, and diameter ratios, 1.1 ≤ D/d ≤ 4. The results reveal the following four distinct types of wake topology downstream of the larger diameter cylinder: (i) shedding of hairpin vortices, (ii) transient asymmetric shedding, (iii) primarily spanwise shedding, and (iv) no vortex shedding. Dominant …