2001 Volume 50 Pages 335-340
The flow around a circular cylinder was investigated, behind which another circular cylinder of equal diameter was placed as an interference element. Although this situation was the same as the flow around two circular cylinders in staggered arrangement that had been studied extensively, in the present study attention was focussed upon a critical nature of the base pressure of the upstream fixed cylinder. The downstream cylinder was traversed upstream horizontally; hence its relative position was defined by horizontal distance G (gap) and vertical distance Z (level) between two cylinders. As the downstream cylinder was shifted upstream, the base suction exhibited a critical fall at a certain gap for different levels off the wake centerline. The spatial trace of the critical gaps were compared with those of previous experiments, where splitter plates were used as interference elements.