American Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2017, Vol. 5, No. 3, 87-90
Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajme/5/3/3
©Science and Education Publishing
DOI:10.12691/ajme-5-3-3
A Review on the Study of Wind Loads on Multiple
Cylinders with Effects of Turbulence
and Surface Roughness
Zawad Abedin
*
, Md. Quamrul Islam, Mousumi Rizia, H.M. Khairul Enam
Military Institute of Science and Technology, Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh
*Corresponding author: zawadabedin@me.mist.ac.bd
Abstract In the past decades, there have been a great number of studies concerning the flow around circular
cylinders. Depending on the researcher’s interests, these studies investigated various perspectives of the flow
phenomenon, including the pressure distribution, force coefficients, vortex shedding, Strouhal numbers, flow
patterns, etc. Most of these investigations were conducted by means of wind tunnel experiments, and only a few
were carried out with full-scale measurements. These previous research work is reviewed in this paper. Since the
mean drag and lift coefficients are of the most interest in these study, the data regarding these parameters constitutes
the majority of the review work as well.
Keywords: tandem cylinder, downstream wave, critical spacing, critical regime, drag coefficient, progressive
transition
Cite This Article: Zawad Abedin, Md. Quamrul Islam, Mousumi Rizia, and H.M. Khairul Enam, “A Review
on the Study of Wind Loads on Multiple Cylinders with Effects of Turbulence and Surface Roughness.”
American Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 5, no. 3 (2017): 87-90. doi: 10.12691/ajme-5-3-3.
1. Introduction
Wind-resistant design of industrial structures has been
given growing attention due to the possible catastrophic
effects in case of failure, especially in the areas where
extreme wind events are likely to occur. It may not only
cause a huge economic loss, but also be devastating to the
environment in some cases. Pipe-rack structures are commonly
found in petrochemical plants, chemical plants, power plants,
etc. In many cases, the calculation of the wind loads on
pipe rack structures is not specifically addressed in the
current design codes. There have been a great number of
studies concerning different perspectives of the flow
around circular cylinders (also mentioned as “pipes”). Of
primary interest, the mean drag and lift force coefficients
C
d
and C
l
are required to calculate the wind loads.
2. Flow around a Single Cylinder
The research about the flow around a single cylinder
can be dated back to more than a century ago. For a
smooth cylinder immersed in a disturbance-free flow, the
characteristics of the flow are determined by many factors.
The Reynolds number is usually singled out as the
governing parameter, which is defined as:
/ Re Vd ρ µ =
where, ρ, V and μ are the density, approaching velocity
and dynamic viscosity of the flow respectively and d is the
diameter of the cylinder. The Reynolds number essentially
represents the ratio of inertial to viscous forces. Figure 1
shows the flow field around the single cylinder.
Depending on Re, progressive transitions from laminar to
turbulent flow take place in the wake behind the cylinder,
the shear layer, the boundary layer and then become fully
turbulent. The drag and lift coefficients are closely related
to these transitions.
The function of Cd vs. Re has been well established
through a great amount of research. Several flow regimes
can be defined based on these variations of Cd. It is also
demonstrated that the variations of Cd vs. Re may have
different behaviors with changes in free-stream turbulence
and surface roughness.
Figure 1. Flow Field around Circular Cylinder