Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40

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Computers and Fluids

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compfluid

Steady separation of flow from an inclined square cylinder with sharp

and rounded base
Deepak Kumar, Kumar Sourav, Subhankar Sen∗, Pavan Kumar Yadav
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, Dhanbad, Jharkhand 826004, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Initial separation of laminar boundary layer for steady flow around square cylinders at 45° incidence is
Received 15 August 2017 investigated numerically using a blockage of 0.05. The cylinder shapes differ solely at the base region
Revised 21 April 2018
where corner rounding of various degrees is provided such that the base point approaches the center
Accepted 20 May 2018
of the cylinder as the corner radius continues to increase. The normalized corner radius is varied be-
Available online 22 May 2018
tween 0 and 0.25, in steps of 0.05. A very narrow regime of Reynolds number (Re) bounded by 6 and
Keywords: 8.2 is found to surprisingly accommodate a wide description of flow physics unforeseen in common ge-
Inclined square cylinder ometries, i.e. circle, square and ellipse at 0° or 90° incidence, etc. These include secondary (no wake)
Secondary separation followed by primary (wake) separation, simultaneous primary and secondary separation, vortex merger,
Vortex merger degeneration of half-saddles, dual nature of a singular point, etc. A very interesting vortex structure forms
Topology when separation bubbles meet at the sharp base point, yet do not form a wake immediately. This unique
Bifurcation
structure however, disappears once the base is rounded. Two fundamental and novel flow topologies are
Flow separation map
proposed and it is demonstrated that the classical wake topology is a degenerated structure of the pro-
posed topologies. Each of the proposed topologies satisfies the kinematic requirement of [6] implying
that the intermediate vortical structures are stable. Overall, three distinct regimes of separation are iden-
tified - regime I for secondary separation, regime II for simultaneous primary and secondary separation
and regime III for primary separation alone. A ‘flow separation map’ that completely specifies all the
regimes of separation is presented for the first time for steady flow past a symmetric obstacle. The flow
bifurcation is a function of corner radius. The maximum number of bifurcations equals three and this is
associated with small values of radius of curvature. For secondary separation, the critical Re marking its
onset is virtually constant at 7.3. The occurrence of secondary separation ceases to exist beyond a nor-
malized corner radius of 0.15. Among the cylinder shapes considered, it is only for this cylinder that the
number of singular points on the surface or number of no-slip critical points reaches a maximum value
of 8.
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction body flows (Kanpur, India, 2011), the series of seven IUTAM sym-
posiums on Bluff Body wakes and vortex-induced vibrations from
The flow around stationary bluff bodies at low to moder- 1998 to 2010, etc. Consequently, quite a vast literature is available
ate Reynolds numbers is a relatively older, well developed and on steady separated flow past bluff obstacles of various shapes. The
yet highly active research area. Excellent reviews [24] and texts literature concerning steady separated flow past symmetric and in-
[20,27] are dedicated entirely to bluff body flows. Detailed dis- clined cylinders suggests that all the possible wake structures be-
cussions on the separation of boundary layer from a stationary long to either of the two fundamental types: classical wake flow
circular cylinder are available in the texts by Batchelor and Trit- for symmetric bodies [24] and alleyway flow with one attached
ton [1,23], among others. The topics of boundary layer separation and one detached vortex for inclined bodies [2] and [17] for in-
and bluff body wake have been the subject matter of several in- clined ellipse, [25] for inclined square). For a symmetric obsta-
ternational symposiums, such as, IUTAM symposium on bound- cle, the classical closed wake bubble originates invariably from the
ary layer separation (London, 1986), IUTAM symposium on bluff base. For an asymmetric obstacle in contrast, separation does not
originate from the base but from the upper rear surface [17]. The
closed wake flow and the alleyway flow (open wake flow where
∗
Corresponding author. wake stagnation point does not form) may be considered to be
E-mail address: ssen@iitism.ac.in (S. Sen). associated with ‘primary or main separation’. The mode of steady

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compfluid.2018.05.020
0045-7930/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
30 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40

separation resulting neither in a wake flow nor alleyway flow, but and 45°. For each orientation, the total number of nodes on the
in forming separation bubbles at locations other than the base, cylinder surface (Nt ) was 40. The values of Res determined by Zaki
is termed in the present work as ‘secondary separation’. It is to and Gad-El-Hak [26] were 2.5 for zero incidence and 5 for 45°
be noted that the terminology secondary separation is being used incidence. Extensive numerical investigation (using finite-volume
here for flow around symmetric obstacles. Identification of even method) on flow around an inclined (at 0◦ − 45◦ ) square cylinder
newer wake topologies from symmetric obstacles is the prime im- in the periodic vortex-shedding regime (Re = 45 − 200) was con-
petus behind the current body of work. Based on numerical inves- ducted by Sohankar et al. [19]. The wake transition of inclined
tigation on low Reynolds number (Re) steady flow around a square square cylinders were investigated by Tong et al. [22] employing
cylinder inclined at 45° to the free-stream, we document, for the PIV and [18] numerically. Yoon et al. [25] employed finite-volume
first time, existence of previously unreported vortical structures method and investigated the onset of unsteadiness and transition
appearing on such a simple geometric shape. The vortical struc- to three-dimensionality for flow around inclined square cylinders.
tures correspond to laminar boundary layer separation with for- The value of critical Reynolds number marking the onset of vortex-
mation of two distinct separation bubbles (without formation of a shedding (a two-dimensional phenomenon) reported by Yoon et al.
wake) as well as simultaneous formation of wake and two distinct [25] is 39. The onset of mode A instability signifying the transi-
separation bubbles. In each case, progressive rise in Re above the tion to three-dimensionality is close to Re = 116 (Fig. 22 of [25]).
separation Reynolds number (Res ) leads to coalescence of all the For Re = 20, they reported classical wake flow for 0° and 90° inci-
vortical structures and eventual formation of the classical standing dences and alleyway flow for 29.7° incidence.
wake vortex containing the twin eddies. Merger of like sign vor-
tices in the regime of unsteady laminar flow past a 45° inclined 1.2. Flow past an inclined elliptic cylinder at low Re
square cylinder at high Re was reported by Yoon et al. [25]. The
instance of vortex merger noted in the current study in the con- Based on computational results for flow around inclined elliptic
text of steady separated flow appears to be a novel observation. cylinders, [2,12] presented ‘flow domain map’ and ‘bifurcation dia-
We propose topologies for each of the newly identified vortical gram’, respectively. These maps demarcate the regimes of attached
structures due to separation and also establish their validity via flow and flow with a separation bubble. Later, [17] presented de-
satisfaction of the kinematic constraint (see Eq. (5) in Section 4.2) tailed topology of the vortical structures formed due to flow sepa-
proposed by Hunt et al. [6]. ration from an inclined elliptic cylinder. This topology (Fig. 5b of
The topology of a flow field is a graphical presentation of the [17]) shows fluid streams or alleyways in between the attached
critical points as well as separatrices. The critical points in a flow bubble and an unattached vortex.
field are the zero-vorticity or zero-shear stress singular points. De-
pending on whether a critical point is located on a no-slip bound- 1.3. Objectives of the current work
ary or within the fluid, [13] further classified the critical points
into no-slip and free-slip critical points, respectively. The cate- Table 1 summarizes the earlier studies relating to inclined
gorization of a critical point into a node or a saddle is due to square and elliptic cylinders at low Re. In this table, r/D denotes
its topological characteristics [6]. The Poincare–Hopf index the- the normalized corner radius where D is the characteristic dimen-
orem or Poincare Bendixson theorem defines a relationship be- sion of the square cylinder (see Fig. 11). For each study involving a
tween the number of nodes and saddle points in a smooth vec- square cylinder at incidence, the corners of the cylinder are sharp.
tor field. According to this theorem, the number of nodes on the The earlier study by Zaki and Gad-El-Hak [26] used a very coarse
surface of an isolated three-dimensional object exceeds the num- mesh as well as a very small Nt value of 40. These choices might
ber of saddle points by two [6]. For a two-dimensional object (a have significantly affected the accuracy of their results. The value
cross-section) in a flow, [6] extended the Poincare–Hopf theorem of Res determined by Sen et al. [16] for zero incidence was 1.15, sig-
and proposed a kinematic balance between the number of nodes, nificantly smaller than the one presented by Zaki and Gad-El-Hak
half-nodes, saddles, half-saddles and connectivity of the flow sec- [26]. Sen et al. [16] used a stabilized finite-element formulation
tion. The Poincare index or winding number of a critical point is and a much finer non-uniform mesh with 158,138 nodes, 157,108
defined in two-dimensions as an integer that corresponds to the elements and Nt = 664. Using the same finite-element formulation
number of revolutions a point makes along a closed curve sur- as employed by Sen et al. [16] and a sufficiently fine non-uniform
rounding the critical point. The index is positive for counterclock- mesh, the current study predicts Res = 7.3 for 45° incidence. This
wise revolutions and vice versa. The saddle is assigned with the value also exhibits a large difference with that obtained by Zaki
index value of +1 while a node is assigned with index value of and Gad-El-Hak [26]. Zaki and Gad-El-Hak [26] did not investigate
−1. the separation mechanism and flow topology in the neighbourhood
In the following two sub-sections, an account of earlier investi- of Res .
gations on low Re flow past square and elliptic cylinders is pro- The discussions in Section 1.1 suggest that the initial separa-
vided. This is followed by a discussion on the objectives of the tion of laminar boundary layer from an inclined square cylinder
current work which revolves around secondary separation, a phe- is still unexplored. To the best of the knowledge of the Authors
nomenon that is being reported for the first time in conjunction from available literature, steady separation from a symmetric and
with steady flow past a symmetric obstacle at low Re. common bluff obstacle relates invariably to wake formation alone.
Interestingly, an exception to this general trend of symmetric sep-
1.1. Flow past an inclined square cylinder at low Re aration is found in the current investigation (see Fig. 12). Bifurca-
tion in a flow corresponds to topological changes as an outcome
One of the earlier efforts to investigate the low Re flow around of small change in a controlling parameter, such as Re. Therefore,
a square cylinder at incidence via numerical experiments was due onset of separation from an attached flow also represents a bifur-
to [26]. To analyze the flow around stationary and freely rotatable cation. We designate this bifurcation as ‘first bifurcation’ in the
square cylinders, they conducted experiments as well as computa- steady flow. Zaki and Gad-El-Hak [26] also presented graphically,
tions. The numerical method involves finite-difference discretiza- the dependence of Res on angle of attack (Fig. 5 of their paper);
tion of the streamfunction-vorticity (ψ − ω) transport equations. this depiction corresponds to the first bifurcation. Except for [26],
They employed a uniform grid of 200 × 100 for zero incidence none of the earlier studies listed above on steady separated flow
configuration and 200 × 300 for incidence angles of 10°, 22.5°, 35° past an inclined square cylinder deals with flow bifurcation. It is
 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40 31

Table 1
Flow past stationary square and elliptic cylinders at incidence: summary of earlier experimental and numeri-
cal studies at low Re. The acronyms FDM, FVM, SEM and FEM stand for finite-difference method, finite-volume
method, spectral-element method and finite-element method, respectively.

Geometry Incidence (°) Authors Method Re Mode of separation

Square (r/D = 0) 0 − 45 [26] FDM, ≤ 100 wake and alleyway

Experiments 10 0 0 − 10 0 0 0
Square (r/D = 0) 0 − 45 [19] FVM 45 − 200 −
Square (r/D = 0) 0 − 45 [22] Experiments 60 − 350 −
Square (r/D = 0) 0 − 45 [18] SEM ≤ 300 −
Square (r/D = 0) 0 − 45 [25] FVM ≤ 150 wake and alleyway
Ellipse 0 − 90 [12] FDM 25 − 600 wake and alleyway
Ellipse 0 − 90 [2] FDM 5 − 200 wake and alleyway
Ellipse 0 − 90 [17] FEM ≤ 40 wake and alleyway
Square (r/D = 0 − 0.25) 45 Present FEM 6 − 8.2 secondary and wake

Fig. 1. (a) The structured, non-uniform and multi-block finite-element mesh used for computing flow around the r/D = 0.25 cylinder. The mesh consists of 94,694 nodes
and 93,952 bilinear quadrilateral elements. Figure 1b shows exaggerated view of the mesh near the cylinder.

therefore of intrigue to investigate in details, additional bifurca- stabilized finite-element formulation are discussed in Section 2.
tions, if any, for r/D ≥ 0. For symmetric bodies, the mode of separa- Section 3 addresses the accuracy and convergence issues of the
tion is ‘apparently’ primary alone. In this body of work, additional computed results. The main results are presented and discussed in
bifurcations as well as newer modes of steady separation are iden- Section 4. In this Section, flow features such as, evolution of sepa-
tified. One implication of this identification is that given a symmet- rated structures as functions of corner radius, novel topologies, co-
ric body, multiple steady bifurcations are possible even at low Re. alescence of vortices, degeneration of half-saddles, etc., are investi-
The flow separation map discussed in Section 4.3 is a bifurcation gated in details. Finally, in Section 5, a few concluding remarks are
diagram. This diagram is the first one of its kind. Identification of made.
secondary separation for a cylinder with sharp trailing edge natu-
rally induces further queries: can the secondary separation exist in 2. Governing equations and finite-element formulation
case a curvature is added at the trailing tip? How does the sepa-
rated structures evolve with the magnitude of corner radius? What 2.1. The equations of fluid motion and boundary conditions
is the relationship between corner radius and number of bifurca-
tions? Can a bifurcation be asymmetric? Efforts are made here to Let  ⊂ R2 be the spatial domain. The boundary of  is de-
address these queries. noted by  and is assumed to be piecewise smooth. The spatial
A finite-element formulation incorporating stabilization against coordinates are denoted by x (= x, y ). The equations governing the
spurious modes of velocity and pressure has been employed for steady flow of an incompressible fluid of density, ρ , are:
discretization of the conservation equations of mass and linear mo-
mentum (see Section 2). The computational domain containing the ρ (u · ∇u − f ) − ∇ · σ = 0 on , (1)
cylinder is rectangular. To explore the flow separation in the neigh-
bourhood of its onset, computations have been performed for the
inclined cylinder with sharp cornered as well as rounded trail- ∇ · u = 0 on . (2)
ing edge or base. The cross-stream projection of the cylinder (D)
and free-stream speed (U) are used to define Re. By varying the Here u (= u, v ), f and σ denote the fluid velocity, body force
radius of curvature (r) at the trailing edge of the cylinder (see per unit volume and the Cauchy stress tensor, respectively. The
Fig. 11), a total of six different shapes are generated, i.e. trail- stress is the sum of its isotropic and deviatoric parts:
ing edge with sharp corner (r/D = 0) and rounded corners (r/D = σ = −pI + T, T = 2 με ( u ) ,
0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25). The computational domain is discretized
via bilinear quadrilateral elements with equal order of interpola- ε (u ) = 1
2 ((∇u ) + (∇u )T ) (3)
tion for velocity and pressure. The computational mesh shown in where p, I, μ and ε are the pressure, identity tensor, dynamic
Fig. 1a for the r = 0.25D cylinder consists of 94,694 nodes and viscosity of the fluid and strain rate tensor, respectively. In the
93,952 bilinear quadrilateral elements. The mesh is structured and present simulations, we have employed the slip boundary condi-
non-uniform. It is composed of five rectangular mesh blocks. The tion on the lateral boundaries of the computational domain. Free-
mesh block containing the cylinder is shown in Fig. 1b. An account stream speed condition is prescribed on the upstream boundary.
of the structure of such meshes can be found in [15]. No-slip condition on velocity is applied on the surface of the cylin-
The outline of the rest of the article is as follows. The governing der. At the downstream boundary, a Neumann condition for veloc-
conservation equations for incompressible fluid flow as well as the ity is specified that corresponds to the stress-free condition.
32 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40

2.2. The finite-element formulation

The spatial domain  is discretized into non-overlapping sub-

domains e , e = 1, 2, . . . , nel where nel is the number of elements.
Let S hu and S ph be the finite dimensional trial function spaces for
velocity and pressure, respectively and the corresponding weight-
ing function spaces are denoted by Vuh and V ph . The stabilized finite-
element formulation of the conservation Eqs. (1) and (2) is written
as follows: find uh ∈ Suh and ph ∈ S ph such that ∀wh ∈ Vuh , qh ∈ V ph
  
wh · ρ uh · ∇uh − f d 


+ ε (wh ) : σ ( ph , uh )d


+ qh ∇ · uh d  Fig. 2. Comparison of predicted eddy length (L/D) and total drag (Cd ) with those
 reported by Yoon et al. [25] for flow around a square cylinder at 45° incidence. In
nel  each case, the corner radius at base is zero and blockage equals 0.01.
 1 
+ τSUPG ρ uh · ∇wh + τPSPG ∇qh .
e=1 
e ρ Table 2
  h   Steady flow past a stationary square cylinder inclined at 45° to the free-stream:
ρ u · ∇uh − f − ∇ · σ ( ph , uh ) de comparison of the predicted drag coefficient with those reported in the literature
nel   for Re = 20 and 40. For each case, a fully developed velocity profile is employed at
 the inlet while the exit is stress-free. No-slip condition on velocity is employed on
+ δ ∇ · w h ρ ∇ · u h d e = wh · hh d  (4) the sidewalls and cylinder surface.
e=1 e h
Study Blockage Re Cd Re Cd
where h is the surface traction vector. In the variational formula- [11] 0.125 20 2.82 40 2.05
tion given by Eq. (4), the first three terms and the right hand side [8] 0.125 20 2.82 40 2.05
constitute the Galerkin formulation of the problem. The first se- [9] 0.125 20 2.847 40 2.081
ries of element level integrals are the Streamline Upwind/Petrov- Present 0.125 20 2.841 40 2.067
Galerkin (SUPG) and Pressure Stabilization/Petrov-Galerkin (PSPG)
terms added to the variational formulations of the momentum and Table 3
continuity equations, respectively. The second series of element Mesh convergence study for r/D = 0.25 cylinder at Re = 10: details of the meshes
level integrals are added for numerical stability at high Reynolds M1 and M2 and comparison of flow characteristics obtained from these meshes.
numbers. This is a least squares term based on the continuity Mesh Nodes Elements Nt L/D θs −C pb Cd
equation. More details of the finite-element formulation can be
M1 94,694 93,952 544 1.4398 67.0753 0.7394 2.8676
found in [21]. In the current study, f = 0. The linearized algebraic M2 180,350 179,064 1088 1.4385 66.9643 0.7391 2.8696
equations of fluid flow are solved by matrix-free implementation
of GMRES [14] in conjunction with diagonal preconditioner.

Table 2 compares at Re = 20 and 40, the predicted drag of a

3. Validation and convergence of computed results square cylinder inclined at 45° to the free-stream with those ob-
tained by [8,9,11]. For each case, a blockage of 0.125 has been used.
To test the accuracy of the predicted results, flow characteristics A fully developed velocity profile at the inlet of the domain cou-
of an inclined square cylinder with sharp trailing edge (r/D = 0) pled with no-slip sidewalls, cylinder surface and stress-free exit
are considered. It appears that the experimental investigations on has been used for each study listed in this table. An excellent
flow past a stationary square cylinder at 45° incidence have been agreement is noted between the predicted and earlier reported val-
conducted at moderate to high Reynolds numbers rather than at ues of Cd .
low Reynolds numbers. For instance, the studies by Dutta et al. A mesh independence test is conducted to ensure that the com-
[3,7] were conducted at Re = 3.85 × 103 − 7.7 × 104 and Re = 1340, puted results display no further significant variation when meshes
4990 and 9980, respectively. Later, [4] conducted the experiments finer than the currently used ones are employed. To this end, the
at moderate Reynolds numbers of 410 and 420. Huang and Lin Re = 10 flow past the r/D = 0.25 cylinder is computed on meshes
[5] presented experimental results for Re = 2 × 104 − 9.4 × 104 . M1 and M2 to establish the convergence. The spatial resolution of
Owing to the lack of available experimental results in the M2 is approximately double the resolution of M1. Information on
Reynolds number regime of the current study (Re = 6 − 8.2), we key mesh parameters is listed in Table 3. The table also summa-
have performed validation tests with respect to numerical results rizes the computed results. The separation angle (θ s ) is measured
available in the literature at low Re. Comparison of predicted eddy relative to the base point. The base suction is denoted by −C pb .
length (L/D) and cylinder drag (Cd ) is made with those reported by No appreciable deviation is noted in the flow quantities computed
Yoon et al. [25] based on finite-volume simulations. In each case, from M1 and M2. This establishes the adequacy of mesh M1 to
the blockage equals 0.01. The blockage refers to the ratio of cross- provide mesh independent results. The mesh M1, is therefore used
stream projection of the object and width of the computational for each computation involving r/D = 0.25 cylinder.
domain. The eddy length is defined as the streamwise distance be- To further establish the mesh convergence, surface vorticity for
tween the base point or rear stagnation point and wake stagnation the r/D = 0.15 cylinder is computed at a critical Reynolds number
point along the wake centerline. Fig. 2 illustrates the closeness of Rem on meshes M3 and M4. At Rem , the wake bubble and the sepa-
the results at Re = 10, 20 and 30 from both sets of computations ration bubbles forming on the rear edges of the r/D = 0.15 cylinder
and establishes the accuracy of the predicted results. For predicted merge (discussed in Section 4.1). The details of meshes M3 and M4
eddy length, the maximum deviation is 2.74% (at Re = 10) and it is are provided in Table 4. The resolution of M4 is about two times
0.40% (at Re = 20) for predicted drag. the resolution of M3. As apparent from Table 4, the values of crit-
 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40 33

Table 4 circumferential angle, θ of about 154°. In terms of contours of u or

Steady separated flow past a stationary square cylinder inclined at
the streamwise component of velocity, Figs. 4b through 4e depict
45° to the free-stream: comparison of surface vorticity obtained
from meshes M3 and M4 at Re = Rem = 7.398. For the cylinder, the evolution of vortical structures for values of Re including and
r/D = 0.15. slightly exceeding Res . The location of initial separation exhibits a
stark deviation relative to the general trend noted for a symmetric
Mesh Nodes Elements Rem % difference in Rem
bluff obstacle where separation initiates invariably from the base,
M3 98,804 98,032 7.398 − i.e. θ = 180◦ . Therefore, for r/D = 0, a wake does not form at Res
M4 199,570 187,224 7.403 0.068
but a pair of anti-symmetric separation bubbles appears on the
rear edges of the cylinder. Following the terminology introduced
in Section 1, this phenomenon corresponds to secondary separa-
tion. A separation bubble generally forms on slender/streamlined
bodies, such as an inclined flat plate, a thin elliptic cylinder or
an aerofoil. The case of r/D = 0 cylinder is a rare instance where
separation bubbles appear over a bluff cross-section. The values
of Res for a circle and square cylinder at zero incidence are 6.29
[15] and 1.15 [16], respectively. Based on the relative magnitudes
of Res , one might expect a square cylinder at 45° incidence to
display flow features that are much closer to those of a circular
cylinder than a square cylinder. With increasing Re, the bubbles
elongate and at Re = Rem = 8.13 (Fig. 4d), the attachment points
of both the bubbles meet symmetrically at the trailing edge. This
signifies merger of a pair of opposite signed separation bubbles
in the context of steady flow; a phenomenon that appears to be
unreported in the open literature. Further interesting is the ob-
servation that the merger does not lead to immediate formation
of wake. This topological configuration containing a total of four
singular points on the surface and none aft the body continues to
Fig. 3. Comparison of surface vorticity obtained from meshes M3 and M4 for the prevail up to Re = 8.18. Non-reversal of the u velocity component
r/D = 0.15 cylinder at Re = Rem . This comparison establishes the mesh convergence
of the computed results. The positive values of vorticity signify anti-clockwise ro-
behind the trailing edge over Re = 8.13 − 8.18 interval ensures the
tation and vice versa. The circumferential angle (θ ) is measured counter-clockwise absence of a wake (Fig. 9d). This interval, denoted by the symbol
from the forward stagnation point. Rem , exists only for the cylinder with sharp trailing edge. As Re
surpasses the upper limit 8.18 of Rem , the wake forms immedi-
ately. The Reynolds number associated with the first appearance
ical Reynolds number Rem obtained from the two sets of meshes of wake bubble is denoted by Rew . The wake assumes the classi-
are practically identical (Rem obtained from M4 deviates by 0.068% cal closed structure containing twin eddies (Fig. 4e) indicating the
from Rem based on M3). onset of primary separation.
The surface vorticity obtained from M3 and M4 at Rem is com- Introduction of mild rounding (r/D = 0.05 and 0.1) at the base
pared in Fig. 3 for the r/D = 0.15 cylinder. Clockwise vorticity is does not alter the Res . Constancy of Res at ≈ 7.3 for small radii of
considered negative and anti-clockwise vorticity is considered pos- curvature is apparent from vorticity curves presented in Fig. 4f and
itive. As apparent from the inset of this figure, refining the mesh 4k for r/D = 0.05 and 0.1, respectively. As with the sharp trailing
beyond M3 does not alter the location of the zero-vorticity singular edge, the secondary separation for r/D = 0.05 initiates at Re = 7.29.
points. This establishes the adequacy of mesh M3 for computations Subsequent development of the vortical structures along the lateral
of the r/D = 0.15 cylinder. edges is illustrated via Fig. 4g through 4j. The magnitude of the
Reynolds number Rem marking the merging of separation bubbles
4. Results at the base lowers down to 8. However, the interval Rem does not
exist. Therefore, the critical Reynolds number Rew associated with
Characteristics of primary and secondary separation of laminar the formation of wake due to primary separation is slightly greater
boundary layer from an inclined square cylinder with sharp and than Rem . Comparison of bubble size for r/D = 0 and 0.05 at an
rounded trailing edges have been investigated in detail. A blockage identical Re of 8.1 for instance (Fig. 4c and 4j), reveals that round-
of 0.05 is used for all the computations. Results are limited to Re = ing of the trailing edge (or upstream movement of the base point)
6 − 8.2. This range of Re though narrow, yet exhibits surprisingly accelerates the vortex merging process leading to the formation of
diverse separation-attachment and vortex merger phenomena that bigger wake bubble. As the normalized radius of curvature is in-
are fundamental in nature. creased to 0.1, Res (= 7.29) remains unaltered while Rem drops to
7.68. The formation of wake as an outcome of transition from sec-
4.1. The flow ondary to primary separation and its further growth is illustrated
via Fig. 4l–4o. In terms of streamlines, Fig. 5 depicts the flow field
Throughout this study, the identification of singular points on for r/D = 0, 0.05 and 0.1 in the regime of secondary separation.
cylinder surface, such as those marking separation and attachment, It may be noted that six singular points exist on the surface for
the sequence of their appearance as well as their location is based Res ≤ Re < Rem and this number reduces to four for Re ≥ Rem . This
on the guideline provided by Lighthill [10]. The surface vorticity reduction is an outcome of degeneration of singular points dis-
has been used as the parameter of interest to locate the singular cussed in Section 4.2.
points. Zero vorticity points on the surface other than the stag- Among all the cylinder shapes considered, the r/D = 0.15 cylin-
nation points represent locations of separation/attachment and re- der displays the most unique and distinct vortical structures
gions bounded by alternate zero-crossings correspond to recircula- (Fig. 6b–6e). Simultaneous occurrence of primary as well as sec-
tion. The vorticity distribution presented in Fig. 4a for the r/D = 0 ondary separation at Res = Rew = 7.3 (Fig. 6(a,b)) results in a
cylinder indicates that separation initiates at Re = Res = 7.3 at a unique topological structure characterized by the presence of a
34 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40

Fig. 4. Surface vorticity (first column) and streamwise velocity contours (second through fifth columns) for inclined square cylinder with r/D = 0.0, 0.05 and 0.1 respectively.
The circumferential angle is measured counter-clockwise from the forward stagnation point.

Fig. 5. Secondary separation from an inclined square cylinder with sharp and rounded trailing edges: streamline plots for r/D = (a) 0 at Re = 8, (b) 0.05 at Re = 7.8 and (c)
0.1 at Re = 7.65. The separation bubbles forming on the rear lateral edges are symmetric about the plane of symmetry.
 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40 35

Fig. 6. Surface vorticity and streamwise velocity contours for inclined square cylinder with r/D = 0.15, 0.2 and 0.25 respectively. The circumferential angle is measured
counter-clockwise from the forward stagnation point.

maximum of eight singular points on the surface. A nominal in- Regime II involves simultaneous primary and secondary separation
crease of Reynolds number to Rem = 7.398 leads to coalescence and regime III is associated with primary separation alone. The
of all three vortical structures. The separation bubbles disappear first regime corresponds to r/D ≤ 0.1, in which only separation bub-
and the already existing wake bubble enlarges. Even though the bles appear and a wake does not form. The second regime seen
Res is virtually identical for r/D = 0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15 cylinders, for r/D = 0.15 is associated with two separation bubbles as well
the bubble sizes at Res are different. In particular, the size decays as the closed wake. Finally, r/D = 0.2 and 0.25 belong to the third
as r increases. When the normalized corner radius is increased to regime where separation results in the formation of a wake with
0.2 and beyond, the secondary separation disappears completely. closed streamlines. The intermediate regime relating to r/D = 0.15
For such cylinders, Res also represents Rew and Rem does not exist. marks a change in vortex arrangement and hence r = 0.15D rep-
The mode of separation turns primary alone and separation initi- resents the critical radius of curvature (rcr ) of the trailing edge.
ates at lower Re. The corresponding Res values are 6.9 and 6.45 for It is interesting to note that Res is approximately constant at 7.3
r = 0.2D and 0.25D, respectively. For these cylinders, the second for r ≤ rcr . We therefore conclude that the cylinders having r ≤ rcr
and third rows of Fig. 6 depict the development of wake bubble. behave as congruent bluff bodies. This can be further established
The first column of Figs. 4 and 6 demonstrate the cases of sec- with the aid of Table 5. For each r ∈ [0, 0.15], the characteristic flow
ondary separation (Fig. 4(a,f,k)), simultaneous secondary and pri- quantities such as, Res , −C pb , Cd and Cdp possess almost identical
mary separation (Fig. 6a) and primary separation (Fig. 6(f,k)). respective values. In contrast, for r > rcr , base suction continues to
In summary, strong dependence of the mode of separation and rise with r.
type of consequent vortical structures on the corner radius is ob- The inception of separation bubble is explained by analyzing
served and three distinct regimes (I, II and III) of initial separa- ∂C
surface pressure gradient ( ∂ sp ) of the r/D = 0 cylinder (for in-
tion are identified. The regime I is linked to secondary separation. stance) at Re = 7.3 = Res . Here, the direction s is measured from
36 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40

Table 5 of separation bubbles or vortices represent four-way nodes. There-

Summary of key characteristic flow quantities for various r. Here, Cdp denotes coef-
fore, in the context of the proposed topology, the singular points
ficient of pressure drag. The values of −C pb , Cd and Cdp correspond to Res .
identified are: four-way nodes, three-way and four-way saddles.
r/D Res −C pb Cd Cdp The kinematic stability of the proposed topologies is established
0 7.3 0.8579 3.3663 2.1933 via satisfying the constraint suggested by Hunt et al. [6], expressed
0.05 7.29 0.8551 3.3688 2.1977 as:
0.1 7.29 0.8518 3.3688 2.1980  1
 1
0.15 7.3 0.8507 3.3665 2.20 0 0
N+ N − S+ S =1−n (5)
0.2 6.87 0.8775 3.4685 2.2561 2 2
0.25 6.45 0.9108 3.5966 2.3332
where, N, S, N and S are the total number of four-way
nodes, four-way saddles, three-way nodes and three-way saddles,
respectively in the flow. The parameter n represents connectivity
of the entire flow section. It is a non-zero positive integer (n ≥ 1)
and for the present study involving an isolated obstacle, n = 2. For
r/D ≤ 0.1, N = 2, S = 0, N’ = 0andS’ = 6 Using these val-
ues, the left hand side of Eq. (5) reduces to (2 + 0.5 × 0 ) − (0 +
0.5 × 6 ) = 2 − 3 = −1. The right hand side yields 1 − n = 1 − 2 =
−1. Thus, Eq. (5) is satisfied by the proposed topology. Similarly
for r/D = 0.15, N = 4, S = 1, N = 0 and S = 8. This set
of parameters also satisfies the kinematic constraint suggested by
Eq. (5).
The topology in the pre-critical regime (Fig. 8a) undergoes a
drastic change as Re is increased slightly beyond Res . The half-
saddles S1, A2, S3 and A3 travel along the respective edges such
that A2 and A3 coalesce at the base point at an Re that we de-
fine as Rem . As shown in Section 4.1a for r/D = 0, coalescence of
A2 and A3 leads to the formation of a singular point M at cylin-
der base. Merging of two identical half-saddles should involve six
Fig. 7. Pressure gradient near the base of the r/D = 0 cylinder at Re = 7.3 corre- numbers of zero streamlines at M . This possibility is illustrated
sponding to secondary separation. in Section 4.1b where A2 and A3 are yet to merge. A considera-
tion of the direction of exterior non-zero streamlines just above
and below the base point ensures that the outgoing streamlines
of Section 4.1b (shown dotted) cannot exist. This implies a de-
the forward stagnation point along the cylinder surface. The pres- generation of streamlines in which the outgoing pair is lost. This
sure gradient is plotted in Fig. 7. A very narrow regime (over θ ≈ merging process will have no effect on the already existing sep-
178◦ − 180◦ ) of favourable pressure gradient exists near the base aration streamline emanating from the base. Therefore, the sin-
followed by a regime of adverse pressure gradient that stretches gular point M at base forms due to intersection of five stream-
up to the shoulders. This adverse pressure gradient is responsible lines. It appears that M owns a dual nature; it exhibits the traits
for the separation of boundary layer on the cylinder surface. The of both three- and four-way saddles as depicted in Section 4.1c.
favourable pressure gradient near the base ensures the existence Therefore, for this unique topology, N = 2, S = 1, N =0
of a reattachment point. The alternation of pressure gradient from and S = 4. This set-up fulfils the topological condition of [6].
adverse to favourable along the surface leads to the formation of a By comparing the streamwise velocity along the wake centerline
separation bubble. and in close proximity of the base, Section 4.1d provides insight-
ful information on the interval Rem over which the attachment
4.2. Proposed topology point M for r/D = 0 cylinder continues to coincide with the base
point (Section 4.1a). As already discussed in Section 4.1, the inter-
In terms of zero streamlines, Figs. 8a and 8b, respectively de- val is [8.13, 8.18] for r/D = 0. As apparent from Fig. 8d, the stream-
pict the proposed wake topologies in the pre-critical (regime I) and wise velocity along the wake centerline decays with rising Re and
critical (regime II) zones. Here, symbols ‘S’ and ‘A’ stand for separa- eventually reverses its direction at Re = 8.19. Therefore the clas-
tion and attachment points, respectively. These singular points are sical wake structure for r/D = 0 forms for the first time at this
identified as three-way saddles or half-saddles. Such points form Re.
at locations on fluid-solid interface where a total of three stream- The proposed topology for r = rcr = 0.15D (Fig. 8b) is associated
lines intersect so that two of them converge at that location and with eight numbers of half-saddles on the cylinder surface. A de-
the rest diverges or vice versa. A close observation of the singu- generation of this topology occurs as Re approaches Rem . The half-
lar points in Fig. 8 suggests that each attachment point is associ- saddles A2 and S2 on the upper surface merge while for the lower
ated with one converging and two diverging streamlines. In con- surface, the merging half-saddles are A4 and S3. As illustrated in
trast, separation points form at the intersection of two converging Fig. 10a, this merging reduces the total number of half-saddles by
and one diverging streamline. For both of the topologies, S and A two. This degeneration corresponds to dual behaviour of either of
appear alternately and the total number of half-saddles is an even the two points C1 and C2 generated out of the merging. When con-
number (= 6 for case (a) and 8 for case (b)) [10]. An additional sin- sidered for the separation bubble, it acts as an attachment point.
gular point M (four-way saddle point) appears in the fluid due to As part of the wake, its role is of a separation point. The dual
interaction of a pair of converging separation streamlines and an- nature can be clearly understood from Fig. 10c. The degenerated
other pair of diverging streamlines along the wake centerline (see topology satisfies the kinematic relationship of [6] with N = 4,
Fig. 8b). This is an example of free-slip critical point [13]. No such S = 1, N = 0 and S = 8 (considering dual nature). Compar-
saddle point exists in the pre-critical regime as secondary sepa- ison of Figs. 8b and 10a provides insightful information on the for-
ration involves attachment on the body surface itself. The centers mation of classical wake bubble. In Fig. 8b, the vortices V1 and V2
 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40 37

Fig. 8. Proposed wake topology in the (a) pre-critical and (b) critical regimes of steady separated flow past a square cylinder at 45° incidence. The pre-critical regime is
associated with secondary separation alone whereas both primary (attachment in fluid) and secondary (attachment on body) separation are observed in the critical regime.

Fig. 9. Illustration of merger of the separation bubbles for r/D = 0: (a) proposed wake topology in the pre-critical regime prior to the formation of wake. Figure (b) depicts
the formation of the singular point at the base due to merging of two reattachment points. The decomposition of this point into a full and half-saddle is illustrated in (c).
Distribution of streamwise velocity along the axis of symmetry and starting from the base is shown in (d) for Re corresponding to secondary and primary separation.

(or V3 and V4) are distinct and have same sense of rotation. When sultant classical wake always contains four half-saddles on the
they grow and get joined at a point (C1 or C2) on the surface cylinder surface. For the first regime, degeneration of attachment
(Fig. 10a), the sense of rotation remains identical. Subsequently, points A2 and A3 (Fig. 8a) is involved in the formation of the clas-
this point degenerates, the like sign vortices V1 and V2 coalesce sical wake. The second regime involves degeneration of singular
and form what is the upper part of the classical wake. points in enlarging the already existing wake bubble. Therefore, the
The classical wake consisting of twin standing eddies is shown degeneration process relates to secondary separation alone. In con-
in Fig. 11. The singular points are identified as: N = 2, S = 1, trast, for primary separation, the classical wake structure appears
N = 0 and S = 4. We conclude that irrespective of the num- at Res itself; degeneration is not relevant in regime III.
ber of half-saddles in the pre-critical and critical regimes, the re-
38 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40

Fig. 10. Evolution of vortical structures for the rounded square cylinder with r/D = 0.15: (a) topological configuration corresponding to onset of merging of separation
bubbles and wake for regime II, (b) formation of singular points C1 and C2 due to coalescence of attachment and separation-type half-saddles and (c) decomposition of
points C1 and C2 reveal dual nature.

Table 6
Effect of corner rounding on the onset of primary and secondary separation: sum-
mary of the values of Re marking the onset of separation, merger of vortices and
formation of classical wake. For three bifurcations, Rew = Rem = Res and for single
bifurcation, Rew = Res . The order in which the number of singular points on the
cylinder varies with each bifurcation is shown in the last column.

r/D Res Rem Rem Rew Number of Number of no-slip

bifurcations critical points

0 7.3 8.13 8.13 − 8.18 8.19 3 2→6→4 →4

0.05 7.29 8 0 >8 3 2→6→4 →4
0.1 7.29 7.68 0 > 7.68 3 2→6→4 →4
0.15 7.3 7.398 0 7.3, > 7.398 3 2→8→6→4
0.2 6.87 − − 6.87 1 2→4
0.25 6.45 − − 6.45 1 2→4
Fig. 11. Schematic presentation of the classical wake. Irrespective of the value of
r/D, the topology contains a fixed number of four half-saddles on the cylinder sur-
face.

hibits a decaying trend. The sixth column of Table 6 summarises

the number of transitions or bifurcations for each cylinder. This
4.3. Bifurcation and flow separation map number is largest (= 3) for small radii of curvature and vice versa.
It is to be noted that Res , Rem and Rew correspond to the first,
4.3.1. Bifurcation of flow second and third bifurcation, respectively (see Fig. 12). The num-
As discussed in Section 1.3, bifurcation is manifested via topo- ber of no-slip critical points varies with every bifurcation. The
logical changes. The onset of separation at Res corresponds to the last column of Table 6 summarizes the relationship between the
first bifurcation. Merging of the separation bubble at the trailing number of no-slip critical points and bifurcation. It may be noted
edge without formation of a wake is associated with the second that the number is always an even number in consistency with
bifurcation. The formation of closed wake next to the second bifur- the postulate of [10]. The number 4 corresponds to the condi-
cation is linked to the third bifurcation. Each of these bifurcations tion when the degenerated singular point M coincides with the
are stable and leads to symmetric topologies. As the corner radius base (Table 6a).
is increased progressively, all three bifurcations appear in succes-
sion till r/D reaches its critical value of 0.15. However, the closed
wake for r/D = 0.2 and 0.25 is a direct outcome of the first bifur- 4.3.2. Flow separation map
cation. The bifurcations are illustrated schematically in Fig. 12a for The findings of Table 6 are used to generate the flow separa-
r/D = 0 and in Fig. 12b for r/D = 0.15. tion map on Re − r plane and shown in Fig. 14. This map clearly
For 0 ≤ r/D ≤ 0.25, the values of salient Reynolds numbers indi- defines all the possible regimes of steady separated flow concern-
cating the onset of separation, coalescence of separation bubbles, ing a square cylinder at 45° incidence. The boundaries between the
range of Rem , etc., are listed in Table 6. The interval Rem exists attached and separated flows are shown by a solid line whereas a
only for r = 0. Absence of Rem for r/D > 0 can be understood from dashed line demarcates the zones of secondary and primary sepa-
the u − x curves of Fig. 13 which show a reverse flow in the wake ration. The regime I consists of two sub-regimes. The bigger of the
once the Reynolds number exceeds Rem . In regime I of initial sep- sub-regimes is bounded by the Res and Rem curves whereas the
aration, Rew > Rem > Res for r/D = 0 and Rew ≈ Rem > Res for r/D = smaller sub-regime is bounded by Rem and Rew . Throughout the
0.05 and 0.1. Rew assumes twin values of 7.3 (= Res ) and 7.398 regime I, the secondary separation precedes its primary counter-
when r = rcr = 0.15D; the latter value is associated with merger part. In regime II, both types of separation occur at Res . The extent
of the wake bubble and the pair of separation bubbles. This hap- of regime II is the smallest among all three regimes of separations.
pens in regime II where Rew ≈ Rem > Res . In regime III, Rem = 0 Secondary separation doesn’t exist in regime III and consequently,
and Rew = Res . With r/D increasing, each of Res , Rem and Rew ex- Res attains its minimum possible value.
 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40 39

Fig. 12. Schematic of wake topologies demonstrating the existence of all three (1, 2 and 3) bifurcations for r/D = (a) 0 and (b) 0.15, respectively. In both cases, the first
column represents attached flow.

Fig. 13. Flow past inclined square cylinders with rounded base in the vicinity of second bifurcation: variation of streamwise velocity component along the wake centerline
for r/D = (a) 0.05 and (b) 0.15. For r/D = 0.05, existence of reverse flow near the base at Re = 8.01 slightly exceeding Rem confirms that Rem = 0. Existence of reverse flow
for r/D = 0.15 at all Re ≥ Res also suggests for the absence of the Rem interval.

intermediate regime (regime II), noted for r/D = 0.15, is associated

with simultaneous occurrence of primary separation from the base
(presence of wake) and secondary separation (presence of separa-
tion bubbles) from the rear edges over the Re range of 7.3 − 7.398.
Finally, regime III is linked only to primary separation from the
base and thus, eventual formation of the classical closed wake bub-
ble containing twin eddies. For r/D = 0.2 and 0.25, the mode of
separation is primary alone whereas for r/D ≤ 0.15, primary sepa-
ration is an outcome of transition of its secondary counterpart at
Rew . Hence, each of the cylinder is associated with regime III. A
flow separation map depicting all the regimes of separation is pre-
sented in the Re − r plane.
As expected, irrespective of the magnitude of corner radius or
mode/regime of separation, the separated vortical structures are al-
ways symmetric about the mid-plane. A pair of novel topologies
associated one each with the regimes I and II, respectively are pro-
Fig. 14. Flow separation map demonstrating the regimes of attached and separated posed (Fig. 8). Degeneration of half-saddles leads to formation of
flows for a square cylinder at 45° incidence with the free-stream. The symbols , yet newer topologies (Figs. 9a and 10a) that are derivatives of the
, represent Res , Rem and Rew , respectively. proposed ones. The kinematic stability of each topology is ascer-
tained via satisfaction of the constraint proposed by Hunt et al.
[6]. For r/D ≤ 0.1 (regime I), attachment points of the upper and
5. Conclusions lower separation bubbles degenerate at Rem to a singular point at
the trailing edge. This amounts to merging of counterrotating vor-
Several fundamental issues concerning initial separation of lam- tices and the degenerated singular point displays a dual nature:
inar boundary layer from an inclined square cylinder with pointed it acts simultaneously as three- and four-way saddles. In contrast,
and blunt trailing edges are studied using a stabilized finite- for r/D = 0.15 (regime II), degeneration occurs in two steps. In the
element formulation. The numerical experiments are performed first step, attachment point of a separation bubble and a separa-
via solving the steady incompressible equations of fluid motion in tion point of the wake bubble degenerate to a singular point on
two-dimensions. Three distinct regimes of separation, i.e. regimes a rear edge. This degeneration is associated with coalescence of
I, II and III, are identified. The first one (regime I) relates to like-sign vortices and the degenerated point displays the traits of
secondary separation from the rear edges of the cylinder for a pair of three-way saddles (dual nature). In the second step, the
7.3 ≤ Re < Rew . This regime associated with r/D = 0, 0.05 and 0.1 degenerated point disappears. For r/D ≤ 0.15, the final degenerated
cylinders is marked by simultaneous appearance of a pair of iso- topology involves the classical closed wake implying that the clas-
lated and counterrotating separation bubbles. In addition, the wake sical one is the most stable topology among all those reported
is absent since the separation does not initiate from the base. The in this study. Topological developments indicate that a maximum
40 D. Kumar et al. / Computers and Fluids 171 (2018) 29–40

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