Free Surface Characteristics of Flow around Two Side-by-Side Circular Cylinders

The three-dimensional free surface characteristics of flow around two equal diameter cylinders in a side-by-side arrangement were studied numerically. The flow fields were simulated with a three-dimensional finite volume method based on the RNG k-ɛ model for Reynolds number Re = 1.0 × 104. The volume-of-fluid method was applied to track air–water interfaces. Computations were performed for gap ratios of 1.25, 1.5, and 1.75 to examine the influence of the gap between two cylinders, and for distance to diameter ratios of 8.0 and 1.0 to study the wall proximity effects. The model was verified by comparing it with the other numerical and experimental results. The results indicated that the evolution of the free surface was periodic in time scale. A weak hydraulic jump occurs in the wake flow. Moreover, a significant difference between upstream and downstream free surface elevations exists in the vicinity of the cylinder. A runup in front of the cylinder and a ‘depression’ around the side edge were also observed. Computational results showed that the flow near the two cylinders was pushed outwards, and the flow between the cylinder and the wall was deflected inwards by the wall. The vortex structures on and near the free surface were closely correlated with the free surface. The shedding vortex far from the free surface was not affected