Numerical simulation of flow past a cylinder in orbital motion

A finite difference solution is presented for 2D laminar unsteady flow around a circular cylinder in orbital motion placed in a uniform flow for Re = 130, 160, and 180. Four cases displaying full lock-in are presented. The variation of time-mean and root-mean-square (rms) values of lift and drag coeffcients were investigated against the amplitude of vibration in transverse direction. Abrupt jumps were found in the time-mean and rms values of lift and rms values of drag. These jumps seem to be caused by a change in the vortex structure

Computation of unsteady momentum and heat transfer from a fixed circular cylinder in laminar flow

This paper presents a finite difference solution for 2D, low Reynolds number, unsteady flow around and heat transfer from a stationary circular cylinder placed in a uniform flow. The fluid is assumed to be incompressible and of constant property. The governing equations are the Navier-Stokes equations, the continuity equation, a Poisson equation for pressure and the energy equation. The temperature of the cylinder wall is kept constant and the viscous energy dissipation term is neglected in the energy equation. The computed Strouhal numbers, time-mean drag and base pressure coefficients, as well as the average Nusselt numbers compare well with existing experimental results

Lift and drag evaluation in translating and rotating non-inertial systems

In this paper relationships have been derived for lift and drag coefficients for cylindrical bodies for two cases. The relative motion between the body and the fluid is assumed to be two-dimensional and to take place in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the body. Three-dimensional effects are ignored, thus limiting the validity of the formulae to low Reynolds number flows. The fluid is assumed to be an incompressible constant- property Newtonian fluid. In the first case, an inertial system is fixed to a stationary cylindrical body. The motion of the fluid in which the body is placed is an arbitrary function of time not identically zero, e.g. the fluid can have linear and angular acceleration, such as translation, oscillation or rotation. The velocity of the fluid at a single instant is either uniform in space or, in the case of rotation, a linear function of distance from the origin of the system. In the second case, a noninertial system is fixed to an accelerating cylindrical body. The relative flow between fluid and body is kinematically the same as in the first case, but the forces acting upon the bodies differ in the two systems. This is due to the inertial forces that occur in a noninertial system. General formulae are derived for a cylindrical body of arbitrary cross-section and give the relationships between the two systems for each set of coefficients, i.e. the relationship between the lift coefficients for each case, and the same for the drag coefficient. As an example, the relationships are applied to two common cases, a circular and a rectangular cross-section cylinder

Comparison of a grid-based CFD method and vortex dynamics predictions of low Reynolds number cylinder flow

Computational fluid dynamics models range from the finite difference type grid-based method to the Lagrangian style vortex cloud simulation technique for solving the Navier-Stokes equations. This paper undertakes a comparison of these two methods for the classical datum bluff body case of flow past a stationary circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers in the range 10 to 220. Comparisons include time-history, time-mean and root-mean-square values of oscillating drag and lift coefficients, frequency of vortex shedding and related vortex street wake flow patterns. Particularly close agreement was obtained for Strouhal number versus Reynolds number, and good agreement for time-mean value of drag coefficients; comparison was also made with experimental results. Attempts are also made to calculate the skin friction and surface pressure components of the cylinder drag, revealing the significance of skin friction drag within this range and its relative insignificance above a Reynolds number of 220

Sunspot Group Development in High Resolution

The Solar and Heliospheric Obseratory/Michelson Doppler Imager--Debrecen Data (SDD) sunspot catalogue provides an opportunity to study the details and development of sunspot groups on a large statistical sample. The SDD data allow, in particular, the differential study of the leading and following parts with a temporal resolution of 1.5 hours. In this study, we analyse the equilibrium distance of sunspot groups as well as the evolution of this distance over the lifetime of the groups and the shifts in longitude associated with these groups. We also study the asymmetry between the compactness of the leading and following parts, as well as the time-profiles for the development of the area of sunspot groups. A logarithmic relationship has been found between the total area and the distance of leading-following parts of active regions (ARs) at the time of their maximum area. In the developing phase the leading part moves forward; this is more noticeable in larger ARs. The leading part has a higher growth rate than the trailing part in most cases in the developing phase. The growth rates of the sunspot groups depend linearly on their maximum total umbral area. There is an asymmetry in compactness: the number of spots tends to be smaller, while their mean area is larger in the leading part at the maximum phase.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

Variations of Solar Non-axisymmetric Activity

The temporal behaviour of solar active longitudes has been examined by using two sunspot catalogues, the Greenwich Photoheliographic Results (GPR) and the Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD). The time-longitude diagrams of the activity distribution reveal the preferred longitudinal zones and their migration with respect to the Carrington frame. The migration paths outline a set of patterns in which the activity zone has alternating prograde/retrograde angular velocities with respect to the Carrington rotation rate. The time profiles of these variations can be described by a set of successive parabolae. Two similar migration paths have been selected from these datasets, one northern path during cycles 21 - 22 and one southern path during cycles 13 - 14, for closer examination and comparison of their dynamical behaviours. The rates of sunspot emergence exhibited in both migration paths similar periodicities, close to 1.3 years. This behaviour may imply that the active longitude is connected to the bottom of convection zone

An alternative measure of solar activity from detailed sunspot datasets

The sunspot number is analyzed by using detailed sunspot data, including aspects of observability, sunspot sizes, and proper identification of sunspot groups as discrete entities of the solar activity. The tests show that besides the subjective factors there are also objective causes of the ambiguities in the series of sunspot numbers. To introduce an alternative activity measure the physical meaning of the sunspot number has to be reconsidered. It contains two components whose numbers are governed by different physical mechanisms, this is one source of the ambiguity. This article suggests an activity index, which is the amount of emerged magnetic flux. The only long-term proxy measure is the detailed sunspot area dataset with proper calibration to the magnetic flux amount. The Debrecen sunspot databases provide an appropriate source for the establishment of the suggested activity index.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Active Longitude and Solar Flare Occurrences

The aim of the present work is to specify the spatio-temporal characteristics of flare activity observed by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) satellites in connection with the behaviour of the longitudinal domain of enhanced sunspot activity known as active longitude (AL). By using our method developed for this purpose, we identified the AL in every Carrington Rotation provided by the Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD). The spatial probability of flare occurrence has been estimated depending on the longitudinal distance from AL in the northern and southern hemispheres separately. We have found that more than the 60\% of the RHESSI and GOES flares is located within $\pm 36^{\circ}$ from the active longitude. Hence, the most flare-productive active regions tend to be located in or close to the active longitudinal belt. This observed feature may allow predicting the geo-effective position of the domain of enhanced flaring probability. Furthermore, we studied the temporal properties of flare occurrence near the active longitude and several significant fluctuations were found. More precisely, the results of the method are the following fluctuations: $0.8$ years, $1.3$ years and $1.8$ years. These temporal and spatial properties of the solar flare occurrence within the active longitudinal belts could provide us enhanced solar flare forecasting opportunity

On-line Tools for Solar Data Compiled at the Debrecen Observatory and their Extensions with the Greenwich Sunspot Data

The primary task of the Debrecen Heliophysical Observatory (DHO) has been the most detailed, reliable, and precise documentation of the solar photospheric activity since 1958. This long-term effort resulted in various solar catalogs based on ground-based and space-borne observations. A series of sunspot databases and on-line tools were compiled at DHO: the Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD, 1974--), the dataset based on the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) called SOHO/MDI--Debrecen Data (SDD, 1996--2010), and the dataset based on the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) called SDO/HMI--Debrecen Data (HMIDD, 2010--). User-friendly web-presentations and on-line tools were developed to visualize and search data. As a last step of compilation, the revised version of Greenwich Photoheliographic Results (GPR, 1874--1976) catalog was converted to DPD format, and a homogeneous sunspot database covering more than 140 years was created. The database of images for the GPR era was completed with the full-disc drawings of the Hungarian historical observatories \'Ogyalla and Kalocsa (1872--1919) and with the polarity drawings of Mount Wilson Observatory. We describe the main characteristics of the available data and on-line tools.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic