Flow regime identification and flow instability analysis of oscillatory flows over twin circular cylinders

Oscillatory flows past two identical circular cylinders are investigated by two-dimensional direct numerical simulations in the parameter space of gap ratio (0.5 ≤ G ≤ 4.0), angle of flow incidence (0° ≤ α ≤ 90°) and Keulegan–Carpenter number (4 ≤ KC ≤ 12) with a constant Reynolds number Re = 150, where G = L/D, KC = U_mT/D and Re = U_mD/υ with D being the dimeter of the identical cylinders, L the shortest surface-to-surface distance between the two cylinders, U_m and T being the velocity amplitude and period of the sinusoidal oscillatory flow, respectively, and α is defined as the angle between the flow direction to the line connecting the centers of the two cylinders. Comparing with the tandem or side-by-side arrangements of twin circular cylinders in oscillatory flows, the staggered twin cylinders (0° < α < 90°) involve more diverse flow regimes, including the periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic flow states, due to the inherent asymmetric flow interference around the cylinder pair. In addition to introducing four flow regimes for the tandem and side-by-side arrangements, this study newly identifies 11 flow regimes for the staggered twin cylinders. The newly reported flow regimes in this work are collaboratively identified through the flow visualizations, steady streaming, frequency spectra of fluid forces and Lissajous phase diagrams, as well as the temporal-spatial symmetry features of the wake flows. Connecting with the previous work by Zhao and Cheng [“Two-dimensional numerical study of vortex shedding regimes of oscillatory flow past two circular cylinders in side-by-side and tandem arrangements at low Reynolds numbers,” J. Fluid Mech. 751, 1–37 (2014)], this study presents overall regime maps in the KC-α plane for varied gap ratios. It is found that the flow regimes previously and presently identified for the tandem and side-by-side arrangements may also appear for the staggered twin cylinders. The present numerical results suggest the sensitive dependence of the flow regimes on the parameters of KC, α, and G. It is also found that a specific flow regime with narrow parameter bands may appear within another flow regime, forming the abnormal regime hole in the regime map. To understand the profound influence of the control parameters on the flow regime transition, and the relevant temporal-spatial symmetry breaking, the linear Floquet stability analysis is conducted in this work. It was confirmed that the variation of the KC number may result in the K_y symmetry breaking over several periodic flow regimes, while the change of the angle of flow incidence may account for the H₂ symmetry covering various periodic and quasi-periodic flow regimes. The stability analysis also explains the temporal flow transition and the abnormal occurrence of the regime holes within either quasi-periodic or chaotic flow regimes.