Investigation of flow around and in wake of a heated circular cylinder at moderate Reynolds numbers

Abstract

The flow around a heated circular cylinder and the wake behind it were studied in wind tunnel flow using two methods of anemometry, i.e., particle image velocimetry (PIV) and constant temperature anemometry (CTA) with a special technique using a rotating slanted hot-wire probe. The Reynolds number ranged from 2000 to 20,000 and the cylinder wall temperatures varied between 27 degrees C and 177 degrees C. The wake is characterized by mean wind and fluctuation contour maps. Significant changes in wake patterns were observed while the cylinder was being heated, thus increasing its wall temperatures at low Reynolds numbers. At higher Reynolds numbers, the effects of cylinder heating on wake properties were negligible. The research fills a gap observed in the literature for a certain combination of velocity, cylinder aspect ratio, and cylinder surface temperature.