Control of Flow Past a Circular Cylinder Using a Rotating Control Rod

Control of flow past a circular cylinder using a rotating control rod is investigated by conducting two-dimensional numerical simulations with a Reynolds number of 200, a rod-to-cylinder diameter ratio of 0.2, a gap ratio of 0.2, position angles of the control rod between 0 degrees and 180 degrees, and rotation rates between -7 and 7. The rotation rate is positive if the cylinder rotates in the anticlockwise direction. The aim of this paper is to discover the effects of the position angle and the rotation rate on flow control. If the rod is placed at the side (position angle = 90 degrees) or nearly to the side of the cylinder (position angle = 45 degrees and 135 degrees), the rotating rod affects the flow in three ways, depending on its rotation rate: (1) strong negative rotation of the rod weakens the negative free shear layers and reduces the lift; (2) flow through the gap interferes with vortex shedding when the rotation rate is small in either direction; and (3) strong positive rotation of the rod enhances the negative free shear layers and increases the lift coefficient. Placing a rotation rod immediately in front of or behind the cylinder (position angle = 0 degrees or 180 degrees) causes a reduction in the lift coefficient for all rotation rates.