LES study on traveling wave wall control for the wake of flow around a 3D circular cylinder at high Reynolds number

Flow around a cylinder is an important research problem in fluid mechanics. However, studies on traveling wave wall (TWW) flow control for the wake generated by the flow around a 3D cylinder remain limited. This study performs large eddy simulation (LES) to investigate the wake characteristics of flow around a three-dimensional (3D) circular cylinder with the TWW. The influence of the main control parameters of TWW on the aerodynamic forces and wake of the 3D cylinder is analyzed. The wake characteristics of the 3D cylinder at Re = 4 × 10⁴ are obtained, and the traveling wave propagating downstream is achieved on the rear surface of the 3D cylinder using dynamic mesh. The control effects of wave amplitude, number of waves, and wave velocity of the traveling wave on the aerodynamic forces of the cylinder are analyzed, and the optimal control parameter combination is determined. The results demonstrate that the TWW control method completely eliminates the spanwise 3D flow characteristics of the cylinder when the amplitude ratio, number of waves, and velocity ratio are 0.02, 4, and 1.5, respectively. Moreover, it effectively suppresses the flow separation on the cylinder surface, eliminates the wake vortex, and suppresses vortex-induced vibration (VIV).