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 vortex interactions are reconstructed for each regime. These interactions, involving half-loop vortex connections, vortex merging, and direct vortex connections are shown to occur periodically as the large and small cylinder structures undergo vortex dislocations. Topological schematics are introduced to relate the characteristic frequencies to the periodic vortex interactions. The observed types of wake topology are shown to produce distinctly different mean and fluctuating forces on the dual step cylinder. For lower aspect and diameter ratios (L/D ∼ 1 and D/d ∼ 1.5), a reduction in fluctuating lift of up to 80% can be achieved on the base cylinder with a minor reduction in mean drag (∼5%). The results indicate that similar performance improvements can be sustained by attaching multiple larger diameter cylinders to the base cylinder. The changes in the fluid forcing are shown to be related to the secondary flow produced by the downwash at the stepwise discontinuities. This process also involves the production of streamwise vorticity at the steps, which is shown to be associated with the deformation of the main spanwise vortical structures.