Experiments in Fluids 7, 217-227 (1989)
9 Springer-Verlag 1989
Phenomenology of Kfirmhn vortex streets in oscillatory flow*
E. Detemple-Laake** and H. Eckeimann
Max-Planck-lnstitut ffir Str6mungsforschung, Bunsenstr. 10, D-3400 G6ttingen, F. R. Germany
Abstract. Vortex wakes of circular cylinders at low Reynolds
numbers have bee n investigated. Sound waves are superimposed
on the flow in mean flow direction. In this configuration the
ICdtrmhn vortices are shed at the sound frequency or at sub-
harmonics of the sound frequency. The K~rm~n vortex street is
treated as a nonlinear self-excited flow oscillator with forced
oscillations. Using a flow visualization technique a variety of
wake structures has been identified as a function of sound fre-
quency and sound amplitude, but independent of the Reynolds
number. The superimposed sound influences the distribution of
circulation and accordingly the shedding mechanism. Primary
vortex and secondary vortex are shed simultaneously from one
side of the cylinder. The alternate vortex shedding is arranged
spatially and temporally. Structures along the vortex axes are
revealed.
1 Introduction
The interaction o f vortex f o r m a t i o n and shedding from a
circular cylinder with sound waves is investigated in order
to understand the coupling mechanism. The superposition
of sound on the oncoming flow allows a controlled super-
position o f known sound frequencies and a m p l i t u d e s in-
dependent o f the geometry. This experimental arrange-
ment is a result of the speculations a b o u t the coupling
mechanism between cells o f different shedding frequencies
which can a p p e a r along the span of circular cylinders.
Cell-structures or wavelengths in spanwise direction have
been found in various experimental arrangements, such as
in shear flows (Stansby 1976), in the wake of cylinders
with end plates or free ends ( G r a h a m 1969; Nishioka and
Sato 1974; Gerich and Eckelmann 1982), in the wake o f
oscillating cylinders (Bearman 1984; Peltzer and Rooney
1985), of slender cones ( G a s t e r 1969), and, at large
Reynolds numbers, in the near wake ( H u m p h r e y s 1960;
* Parts of this paper have been presented at IUTAM Congress
1984, Lyngby, Denmark, and at ICNM Conference 1985,
Shanghai, P. R. China
** Present address: DFVLR-Institut ffir Experimentelle Strr-
mungsmechanik, Bunsenstr. 10, D-3400 G6ttingen, F. R. Ger-
many
Experimentsin Fluids
W e i and Smith 1986). The aim o f the present investiga-
tions is to derive an explanation o f the complex o f vortex
formation, shedding and arrangement from the knowledge
o f the coupling mechanisms.
Since the first conclusive interpretation o f the vortex
shedding from a circular cylinder by Strouhal (1878)
various experimental arrangements o f the flow around
bluff bodies have been examined and, consecutively,
various p h e n o m e n a have been found. However, the in-
teraction o f the coupling in the flow field has not been
clarified and up to now a systematic description o f vortex
shedding is missing. Moreover, the existence o f "windows"
of ordered and chaotic vortex streets d e p e n d i n g on the
Reynolds n u m b e r (Sreenivasan 1985; Van Atta and G h a r i b
1987) will surely cause or influence most o f the k n o w n
phenomena.
In the present experiments K~trm~tn vortex streets form-
ing behind circular cylinders are examined in a flow
superimposed with sound waves in m e a n flow direction.
In such an arrangement vortex street and sound interact
despite being of widely differing wavelengths and sym-
metry properties, in such a way that an interaction similar
to that between two oscillators is observed. The vortex
shedding frequencies and the resulting wake structures are
determined by the sound frequency and amplitude. Thus,
the observed p h e n o m e n a can be identified and systemat-
ically ordered d e p e n d i n g on the sound parameters.
Hussain and R a m j e e (1976) observe an a m p l i t u d e
m o d u l a t i o n o f the vortex street signal in a flow super-
i m p o s e d with sound, which corresponds to the nonlinear
beat found here (Chap. 3). Additionally, they report on
vortex shedding at sound frequency. O k a m o t o et al. (1981)
find an influence o f sound r a d i a t e d into the flow parallel
to the cylinder on vorticity, shedding frequency and cor-
relation along the span o f the cylinder. The effect o f trans-
verse standing acoustic waves is investigated by Blevins
(1985). He finds a shift o f the vortex shedding to the
sound frequency and a correlation o f the vortex shedding
along the cylinder span. Matsui and O k u d e (1983) observe
the coalescence of two or three vortices in the far wake
218
forming a secondary vortex street, if they excite the wake
with sound. Cylinders in oscillatory flow are reviewed by
Bearman and Graham (1980). Works of Bearman etal.
(1985) as well as Ishiwata and Ohashi (1984) discuss the
forces on the cylinder in dependence on the Keulegan
Carpenter number. Barbi et al. (1986) find vortex shed-
ding in oscillatory flows at half the driving frequency and
the driving frequency itself. Armstrong etal. (1987) de-
scribe the vortex shedding locked in on the superimposed
disturbance frequency.
On the basis of the experimental results oscillating
cylinders, however, show remarkable analogies to the
present investigations of sound influence. A review of
vortex shedding from oscillating bluff bodies is given by
Bearman (1984). In the wakes of vibrating cylinders
Griffin and Ramberg (1974, 1976) observe structures
comparable to vortex rows, single pairs and sea-horses
(Chap. 3). Williamson (1985) reports of the shedding of
vortex pairs. Williamson and Roshko (1987) find wake
structures similar to sea-horses, triplets and vortex rows as
described in the chapter wake structures. Finally Couder
and Basdevant (1986) observe vortex-couples in the wake
of longitudinally oscillating cylinders, which are arranged
asymmetrically on one side or on both sides of the wake
respectively. They also find structures similar to single
pairs, sea-horses and triplets found here. Koopmann (1967)
and Tanida et al. (1973) investigate longitudinally oscillat-
ing cylinders and find subharmonic lock-in of vortex
shedding on half the excitation frequency. The analogy of
a longitudinally oscillating cylinder in uniform flow and a
cylinder placed in longitudinally oscillating flow with non
zero mean flow can be deduced from analogous exper-
imental results mentioned above (Detemple 1983).
The K~rm~n vortex street may be described as a flow
oscillator with forced oscillations because of its frequency
F 2530
O
O
O
QO
t9-
o~
Fig. 1. Wind tunnel with loudspeaker
Fig. 2. Smoke pattern due to superposition of sound
Experiments in Fluids 7 (1989)
dependent behavior. The development of the resulting
wake structures allows conclusions about the vortex for-
mation and shedding. The aim of the present investiga-
tions is the visualization of these resulting wake structures.
The development of flow visualization techniques since
da Vinci and Mach shows that decisive contributions to
the understanding of flow phenomena result from visual
investigations. The derivation of the complete flow field
from hot-wire data alone is very cumbersome. Both, flow
visualization and hot-wire anemometry give a conclusive
picture of vortex shedding under the influence of sound.
This leads to a phenomenological categorization of the
resulting wake structures. Despite this, under the given
conditions the complex of vortex formation, shedding and
arrangement cannot be broken up by the influence of
sound.
2 Experimental methods
2.1 Experimental arrangement
The experiments were carried out in an open-circuit type
of wind tunnel (Fig. 1), which allows wind speeds of 0.4 to
23 m/s with a free stream turbulence level of 0.2%. The
nozzle diameter is 180 mm. A loudspeaker of 150 W maxi-
mum sinusoidal output is placed at the suction end of the
wind tunnel. With this configuration, in the sound fre-
quency range 20 <./~ < 1,000 Hz fluctuation amplitudes of
the same order of magnitude as those existing in the
cylinder wake can be superimposed. This corresponds to a
maximum sound pressure level of 146 dB related to the
human aural threshold, i.e. a maximum particle velocity
of about 1 m/s. The sound waves leaving the nozzle exit
are plane (Fig. 2). This is also confirmed by hot-wire
measurements.
The vortex-shedding cylinders are rigidly fixed at the
nozzle exit. Tensioning devices and supports are fixed
outside the nozzle wall. Natural vibrations of the cylinders
can be excluded because different cylinders of different
materials and of the same or different geometry give the
same results. For the final measurements copper cylinders
of 1.0, 1.5 mm diameter and high-grade steel cylinders of
2.0, 2.5, 3.0 mm diameter are used. The total length of the
cylinders is 180 mm. The ratio of cylinder length and
cylinder diameter is always greater than 60, hence end
effects in the symmetry plane can be excluded (Gerich
and Eckelmann 1982).
The wake of the cylinder is investigated on the one
hand with hot-wire anemometry in combination with an
FFT-analyzer and on the other hand with flow visualiza-
tion using smoke. Sound frequency and amplitude are
adjusted by a hot-wire probe located in the oncoming
flow. Additionally, this hot-wire probe serves to ensure
that no backflow occurs in the case of superposition of
sound. Particle velocities of 30% of the flow velocity are
E. Detemple-Laake and H. Eckelmann: Phenomenology of K~trm~mvortex streets in oscillatory flow 219

typical for the experiments. The superposition of sound (A) Structures independent of the ratio of sound fre-
leads to an increase of the actual flow velocity. This is due quency f~ and natural shedding frequency f~ro (fJf~ro).
to the additional direct flow (quartz wind) resulting from (B) Synchronisation, i.e. the natural shedding fre-
the spatial rectification of the particle velocity in mean quency f~ro locks in on half the sound frequency
flow direction. At a given sound frequency the increase of f~ (f~r = fJ2).
the flow velocity with increasing sound amplitude can be (C) The natural shedding frequency fs~o locks in on the
recognized by the increasing distance as well as breadth of sound frequency f~ ( f ~ = f~).
the smoke stripes (Chapter 2.2). The wake structures presented here are the result of the
investigations with five cylinders of different diameters at
Reynolds numbers 53 < Re < 250, resulting in different
2.2 Smoke-wire technique and interpretation of smoke pictures
natural shedding frequencies fsro. Depending on the
The vertical smoke-wire technique used here was intro- sound frequency fs the frequency range which is examined
duced by Corke et al. (1977). A constantan wire of 0.1 mm covers 0.5 <fJf~ro< 4. The experimental results are sys-
diameter which is fastened vertically in front of the nozzle tematized dependent on the sound frequency f~ but not on
exit serves as smoke-wire. Margarine oil drops from a the sound amplitude As. The latter can only be given
reservoir via a needle on the wire which is heated. Larger qualitatively. In contrast to the classical K~trm~n vortex
oil droplets run down the wire, moistening it, while form- street in these investigations the Reynolds number has no
ing smaller oil droplets which then evaporate. In a flow a effect.
continuous plane smoke sheet develops. This method can
be used in a velocity range from 0.7 to 1.30 m/s. At
smaller velocities the smoke filaments are subject to lifting
3.1 (A) Structures independent of f~/J~,o
by the applied heat. At larger velocities the smoke is (I) Beating vortices
blown away.
If vortex street and sound wave of small amplitude
Basically, smoke patterns in air may be interpreted in
interact like two sinusoidal oscillations in a nonlinear sys-
the same way as ink patterns in water. But it is necessary
tem "beating" vortices develop. This beat can be recog-
that the smoke-wire is placed as close as possible to the
nized both temporally in the hot-wire signals (Fig. 3) and
wake structures since smoke even shows patterns down-
spatially in the smoke patterns (Fig. 4). The circumferen-
stream when the real pattern is dissipated (Desruelle 1983;
tial velocity of the vortices varies with the beat frequency,
Cimbala 1984; Cimbala et al. 1988). Simultaneously the
although the vortices themselves are of the classical
formation time of the wake structures has to be taken into
Khrm~tn type. The interpretation of the hot-wire signals
account. Furthermore, the thermal wake of the smoke-
given by Detemple (1983) is confirmed: a swinging wake
wire must not influence the vortex formation at the
can be excluded. The appearance of combination fre-
cylinder (Merzkirch 1974).
The smoke particles are about 1 ~tm in diameter, i.e.
their diffusion coefficient is small and the related Schmidt
number in air is in the order of magnitude 105, thus the
particles follow the flow (Cimbala 1984; Batchelor and
Shen 1985). The smoke stripes shown in Fig. 2 develop if
the sound passes the smoke-wire. In the wake of the
smoke-wire the smoke concentrates in regions of small
velocity, i.e. the particle velocity is antiparallel to the flow
velocity. The distance of the smoke stripes is a function of
the flow velocity and the sound frequency, and slightly o o.4 0:8 1'.2 1.6
depends on the quartz wind. The higher the flow velocity
Fig. 3. Hot-wire signal of a nonlinear beat
or the particle velocity at a given sound frequency the
wider the distance of the stripes. The breadths of the
stripes themselves increase with increasing sound am-
plitude.

3 Wake structures

Depending on the sound frequency fs and the sound am-

plitude As twelve different wake structures are found. As a
measure of clear distinction they are labeled with roman
numbers and names. A rough characterization yields the
following three groups. Fig. 4. Beating vortices; Re = 130,f~ro = 52 Hz, fs = 90 Hz
220 Experiments in Fluids 7 (1989)

quencies fk = [mf, + nf~r 1, m, n = 0, 1, 2... is character-

istic of a nonlinear beat. Here f~r is the actual shedding
frequency which can be pulled from the natural shedding
frequency f~ro up to 25% by the influence of sound.
For a given natural shedding frequency fsro the direc-
tion of pulling is investigated systematically depending on
sound frequency and amplitude. The resulting direction of
shifting is taken statistically. Despite this, in the cases of
lock-in the actual shedding frequency fsr is pulled con-
tinuously in the direction of the sound frequency or half Fig. 5. Aligned vortices; Re = 152,f~ro = 65 Hz, f~ = 108 Hz
the sound frequency, with increasing sound amplitude.
This effect has also been observed at higher Reynolds
numbers by Barbi et al. (1986) in oscillatory flow. 1
fsr = .--~- fs
fs
fsr
(II) Aligned vortices
<
At particle velocities of the order of magnitude of the flow
velocity aligned vortices are observed (Fig. 5). The vortex ..9
~
street looks like blown away by the sound. Although
smaller vortices are separated and shed simultaneously, 0 100 Hz 200
they are rapidly dissipated downstream. The amplitude
Fig. 6. Lock-in of the vortex shedding on half the sound fre-
spectrum reveals only the sound frequency. Couder and quency (f~r =fJ2); the vertical line marks fsro
Basdevant (1986) find analogous patterns in the wake of
longitudinally oscillating cylinders.

3.2 (B) Synchronisation: lock-in on half the sound

frequency (f~r = f J 2 )
Synchronisation means that the vortex shedding is trig-
gered by the sound in such a way that the vortices are
shed with half the sound frequency, no matter whether the
natural shedding frequency was above or below the sound
frequency. Figure 6 shows a spectrum characteristic of
this case.
In the classical case of Khrm~n vortices (50 < Re < 150)
slantwise shedding with an angle of approximately 23 ~ to
the cylinder axis occurs (Fig. 7). This is also shown by
hot-wire measurements revealing slantwise shedding of
21~ (Detemple 1983). In other investigations slantwise
shedding is reported as well [Berger (1964): 19~ Berger
and Wille (1972): 1 0 ~ 1 7 6 Nishioka and Sato (1978):
17 ~ 19~ It seems as if slantwise shedding is a natural
phenomenon. If the asymmetrical shedding process of the
KArm~n vortices is hit by a plane sound wave the former
Fig. 7. Vorticesof a K~rm~n vortex street; Re = 123,f~ro = 48 Hz
is forced by the sound frequency, the vortex shedding is
still alternate. The vortices of either side are shed parallel
to the cylinder with half the sound frequency. In Fig. 8 the At the upper limit of the so-called regular Reynolds
upper- and lower-most parts of the photograph show the number range (50 < Re < 150) the netting-pattern (Fig. 9)
jet boundary. The transition from natural slantwise shed- occurs. In the near wake the vortices show a primary in-
ding to sound-induced parallel shedding does not occur stability in spanwise direction with a wavelength of ap-
abruptly. By continuously increasing the sound amplitude proximately 5 d ( d = cylinder diameter) which does not
in the beginning a wake pattern is observed which is grow downstream. At a downstream distance of 10 d a
similar to the natural pattern in the transition range secondary instability develops continually growing with
(Re > 150). While the sound amplitude grows partly par- increasing distance. A similar pattern is observed by
allel vortices form before finally parallel shedding be- Hama (1957) at Re = 190 and Cimbala (1984) in the far
comes stable. wake (at downstream distance of 200 d) at Re = 140.
E. Detemple-Laake and H. Eckelmann: Phenomenology of K~trmhn vortex streets in oscillatory flow
Fig. 8. Synchronized vortices; Re = 123, f s r o = 48 Hz, f~r = 53 Hz,
fs = 107 Hz
Fig. 9. Netting-pattern; Re = 143, f s r o = 63 H z , f ~ = 53 H z , f~ =
107 Hz
The flow visualization as well as the hot-wire measure-
ments show that synchronisation by superposition o f
sound has a stabilizing effect on the wake. So, at R e = 190
which is beyond the regular Reynolds n u m b e r range the
vortex street can be synchronized (Fig. 10a and b). W i t h
the given experimental arrangement the regular range can
be extended to R e = 470. W i t h the help o f the hot-wire
signals stabilization by synchronisation can be recognized:
a m p l i t u d e and frequency are temporally more stable, the
a m p l i t u d e s themselves are higher. The length of the
221
Fig. 10. a Synchronisation in the transition range: natural vor-
tices; Re = 190, fsro = 61 Hz; b synchronisation in the transition
range: synchronized vortices; Re = 190, fs,o = 61 Hz, f~r = 53 Hz,
f~= 107Hz
vortex street is a p p r o x i m a t e l y d o u b l e d ( D e t e m p l e 1983).
In the case o f synchronisation the resulting wake struc-
tures are different, although the a m p l i t u d e spectrum in
each of the cases is the same (Fig. 6).
(III) M u s h r o o m structures
If the s u p e r i m p o s e d sound frequency fs is lower than the
natural vortex shedding frequency f~ro(f~ < f , ro) and the
sound a m p l i t u d e As is increased, beating vortices (Fig. 4)
change to m u s h r o o m structures (Fig. 11).
In contrast to the natural K~rm~n vortex street here a
pair of vortices is shed from one side o f the cylinder
222
Fig. 11. Mushroom structures; Re = 150, fs~o = 64 Hz, fsr = 20 HZ,
f, = 40 Hz
Fig. 12. Sea-horses; Re = 143, f~ro = 64 Hz, f~r = 50 Hz, f~ = 100 Hz
Fig. 13. Stable sea-horses; Re = 143, f s r o = 64 H z , f~r =
f , = 100Hz
Fig. 14. Vortex string; Re = 150, fsro = 65 Hz, f~r = 54 Hz, f~ =
108 Hz
together with a small third vortex from the other side. The
pair consists of two vortices of different strength. For this
reason they move around each other and the path of the
whole system is curved in direction of the stronger vortex.
The stronger vortex is in balance with its weaker partner
together with the small third vortex. In comparison to the
natural Kfirmgn vortex street the mushroom vortices tend
Experiments in Fluids 7 (1989)
to diverge. In this case the ratio of vertical (h) to horizon-
tal (l) distance of the vortex-cores is different from the
classical ratio h / l ~ 0.28. Williamson and Roshko (1987)
find similar structures in the wake of oscillating cylinders.
Couder and Basdevant (1986) describe couples of vortices
diverging from the wake.
(IV) Sea-horses
With increasing sound frequency f~ in the range of
1 <f~/f~ro < 2 mushroom structures change to sea-horses
(Fig. 12). In this case pairs of vortices are shed from either
side of the cylinder. Similar structures in the wake of
oscillating cylinders are described by Couder and Basde-
vant (1986) as well as Williamson (1985) and Williamson
and Roshko (1987).
The development of mushroom structures and sea-
horses can be described in the following way: Basically a
vortex must have a critical strength before being shed
from the cylinder. By superposition of sound energy is fed
into the shedding process, leading to an increase in circu-
lation. In this range of frequencies (J;/f~ro < 2) the sound-
induced vortex shedding frequency f~r is smaller than the
natural vortex shedding frequency f~ro, i.e. each vortex
has more time to develop. Thus, each vortex accumulates
more vorticity. Comparable to ring vortices (Mtiller and
Didden 1980) the increased vorticity - being too high for
a single vortex - is distributed into several vortices in this
case forming vortex pairs.
The sea-horses are not stable further downstream un-
less the primary vortex of the pair is much stronger than
the secondary vortex from the very beginning (Fig. 13).
Such sea-horses are also observed in the wake of a
50 Hz,
longitudinally oscillating cylinder (Griffin and Ramberg
1976).
(V) Vortex string
With increasing sound amplitude, near the frequency
range f~/f~ro = 2, the sea-horses change to vortex strings
(Fig. 14). Here again, the difference to the classical
K~trmfin vortex street is the shedding frequency as well as
the strongly altered h/l-ratio, the latter almost being zero.
Similar vortex strings are observed behind an oscillating
airfoil (Oshima and Natsume 1980) and behind an oscil-
lating cylinder (Koopmann 1967; Griffin 1974; Griffin
and Ramberg 1974).
(VI) Isolated vortex pairs
With further increasing sound amplitude vortex strings
develop into isolated pairs which statistically not only turn
upwards, as shown in Fig. 15, but turn downwards as well.
Isolated pairs are also observed by Griffin and Ramberg
(1976).
E. Detemple-Laake and H. Eckelmann: Phenomenology of K~rmfin vortex streets in oscillatory flow 223

Fig. 15. Isolated vortex pairs; Re = 153, f~o = 65 Hz, fs, = 54 Hz, Fig. 19. Beating string; Re = 60, f~ro= 127 Hz, fs~ = 102 Hz,
f~ = 108 Hz f~ = 102 Hz

because of differing strength. During this process the outer

vortex of the pair diverges from the pair. In comparison
with the other structures vortex triplets are very stable.

(VIII) Vortex twins

Fig. 16. Vortex triplets; Re = 153, f~ro = 65 Hz, f~r = 54 Hz, fs =
108 Hz
With further increase of sound amplitude vortex twins
develop with h / l ~ oc (Fig. 17). Finally, with the highest
possible sound amplitude in this experiment, aligned
vortices develop (Fig. 5). Structures like isolated pairs,
vortex triplets and aligned vortices in the wake of a lon-
gitudinally oscillating cylinder have also been observed by
Couder and Basdevant (1986).

(IX) Kfirm~n vortices

Beyond the limit of the range o f the sea-horses, i.e.
f~/J'~ro-> 2, again K~rmgn vortices are shed from the
cylinder but with half the sound frequency and lesser
strength. These vortices are more stable. In this case of
synchronisation the forced vortex shedding frequency
s = f J 2 is higher than the natural vortex shedding fre-
Fig. 17. Vortex twins; Re = 152, f~ro = 65 Hz, f~r = 54 Hz, f~ = quency f~ro. Therefore the strength of the vortices is
108 Hz slightly decreased with respect to the natural case.

fsr : fs
3.3 (C) Lock-in on the sound frequency (f~r = f Q

g fsr : fs
Amongst the last characteristic group are those wake struc-
tures which exhibit a lock-in of vortex shedding on the
sound frequency itself, characterized by a spectrum as
c~
displayed in Fig. 18.
o
A
0 160 Hz 200 (X) Beating string
Fig. 18. Lock-in of the vortex shedding on the sound frequency In the range of sound frequencies 0.77 < f J f s , o < 0.86 or
(fsr =fA; the vertical line marks f~ro 1 < f~/f,~o < 1.16 with increasing sound amplitudes out of
the beating vortices (Fig. 4) a row o f vortices with dif-
fering strength called beating string (Fig. 19) develops.
(VII) Vortex triplets
The sound wave hits the cylinder with approximately the
With further increasing sound amplitude vortex triplets frequency of the natural shedding, supporting shedding
develop (Fig. 16). As in the m u s h r o o m structure a vortex from one side, simultaneously restraining shedding from
pair and a single vortex are shed from the cylinder alter- the other side. In consequence a few vortices are shed sub-
natingly. The same is observed by Williamson and Roshko sequently from one side followed by a few vortices shed
(1987) behind oscillating cylinders. In the wake these vor- subsequently from the other side. The vortex strength
tices move around each other and relatively to each other alters continuously.
224 E x p e r i m e n t s in Fluids 7 (1989)

4 Discussion and conclusion

The demonstrated wake structures can be categorized by

their dependence on the ratio of sound frequency to
natural vortex shedding frequency fJf~ro while the de-
pendence on the sound amplitude As is only qualitative. In
the investigated range 53 < Re < 250 the experiments
show no dependence on the Reynolds number if sound is
superimposed. Figure 22 demonstrates the three groups A,
Fig. 20. Peacock-butterflies; Re = 108, f ~ o = 38 Hz, f ~ = 38 Hz, B, C as well as the possible transitions between the struc-
f~. = 38 Hz
tures in each of the groups, which happen as a function of
the frequency ratio f~/f~ro and the amplitude As. In the
case of a given sound amplitude As all observed structures
develop out of the natural Kfirm~n vortex street by con-
tinuous increasing or decreasing of the sound frequencyf~.
In the frequency range fJf~ro ~ 1 -- despite multiple
repetition of experiments under stable conditions - it
remains unpredictable whether with increasing sound am-
plitude the transition from A goes to B or to C.
If the sound frequency controls the actual shedding
frequency, i.e. f~r=f~, the lock-in range extends from
0.77 <f~/f~ro < 1.16. However, the lock-in of vortex shed-
Fig. 21. T o r n wake; Re = 108, f ~ o = 38 Hz, f~ = 44 Hz
ding on half the sound frequency, i.e. f ~ =f~/2, stretches
over a wider range: 0.53 <fJJJro < 2.46. Characteristic of
lock-in is the extension of the lock-in range caused by an
As increase of the exciting sound amplitude. For a given
sound amplitude the lock-in range is asymmetrical re-
XcX~ X ~ ] C : fsro--fsr=fs
ferred to the natural vortex shedding frequency f~ro, to be
As VIII more precise, it is larger at smaller frequencies, i.e.
7
- . Vll l
f~r<f~ro. Hence it is easier to influence the shedding
l_: ~i VI j 13:fsro~fsr=fs/2 mechanism in such a way that smaller frequencies result.
III ._., _ ~ ~- -'V~ IX
With the equipment of these experiments the mushroom
As structure for example shows a lock-in of the shedding fre-
) ...... _ ._ - 99 I II I I ] A : fsro, fs quency which then is up to 73% smaller than the natural
0 0'.5 i 115 2 2.5 3 4 fs~fsro shedding frequency. Archibald (1975) observes in sound-
superimposed flow a lock-in of 20% and Griffin (1974)
Fig. 22. Summary of wake structures; 9 data points obtained by
using an oscillating cylinder 15%.
p h o t o g r a p h s , r a n g e b o r d e r s o b t a i n e d in c o m b i n a t i o n with hot-
wire measurements; I beating vortices, II aligned vortices, III The most stable mode of shedding is lock-in on half the
mushroom structures, IV sea-horses, V vortex string, VI isolated sound frequency, here named as synchronisation. Apart
vortex pair, VII vortex triplets, VIII vortex twins, IX K~rm~m from the direct transitions from the natural to the syn-
vortices, X beating string, XI peacock-butterflies, XII torn wake chronized vortex street, there are conditions in which the
vortex shedding frequency is pulled to fsr/f~ = 3/4, 2/3, 4/7
(Detemple 1986). Unlike the expectation, it is difficult to
pull the vortex shedding to the sound frequency itself.
(XI) Peacock-butterflies Instead, if the coupling is not strong enough for lock-in on
half the sound frequency, a rational frequency ratio is
In the narrow range of frequency 0.86-~fJf~ro-~1 the
obtained. At transition to synchronisation, apart from the
beating string is interrupted by the peacock-butterflies
pulling a slow change between two frequencies is observed.
structure (Fig. 20). In the case shedding from only one side
In this case the vortex shedding frequency changes con-
is supported, whereas shedding from the other side is
restrained. The side o f preference is left to chance. stantly from fJG (G = 1.618 .... the golden ratio) to ~ / 2
and back. With smoke visualization this change does not
(XII) Torn wake result in different wake structures. The sea-horses struc-
ture is observed. In general, the appearance of subhar-
With increasing sound amplitude the torn wake results monic oscillations as well as the different described tran-
(Fig. 21). A further increase of the sound amplitude sitions resemble a route to chaos. But instead of leading to
(146 dB) finally results in aligned vortices (Fig. 5). chaos via the frequency ratio f~r/f~ = l/G, the system be-
E. Detemple-Laake and H. Eckelmann: Phenomenology of K~trmgn vortex streets in oscillatory flow 225

comes stable with f~r/J~ = 1/2. The reason for this can be
found in the simultaneous spatial synchronisation, i.e. the
parallel shedding of vortices from the cylinder. Matsui
and Okude (1983) and Cimbala (1984) find the appearance
of subharrnonic frequencies without external influence in
the far wake of a circular cylinder. At some defined
Reynolds numbers, in the range of 36 < R e < 170, Sreeni-
vasan (1985) observes a Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse-route to
chaos of vortex streets. In the present case even at the
border of the regular to the transition range (Re ~ 150), at
which under influence of sound primary and secondary in-
stabilities occur along the vortex axes (netting-pattern),
the spatial triggering by sound has a stabilizing effect.
The frequency behavior of vortex shedding from a
circular cylinder under the influence o f sound suggests
that this system can be regarded as a nonlinear, self-
excited flow oscillator with forced oscillations. To de-
scribe theoretically the behavior of such an oscillator,
generally the van-der-Pol oscillator is employed. Specifi-
cally in the case of vortex shedding this model has been
used by Gaster (1969), Benaroya and Lepore (1983)
among others and by Bishop and Hassan (1964) for oscil-
lating cylinders. Necessarily connected with this is the
synchronisation, also named as lock-in of the vortex shed-
ding frequency on the sound frequency or half the sound
frequency. Including this article all examples o f synchro-
nisation have the following items in common: (1) parallel Fig. 23a-f. Examples of limit cycles; a K~trmgm vortex street,
vortices are shed from the cylinder; (2) the synchronized b nonlinear beat, c aligned vortices, d sea-horses, e vortex string,
vortices with a higher vorticity are more stable, thus (3) f vortex triplets
the vortices last longer and the vortex street length is
further extended. shedding of vortex pairs from the cylinder instead of
A characteristic feature of a self-excited oscillator are single vortices. This can be illustrated by the pictures of
periodic solutions expressing themselves in stable limit Prandtl and Tietjens (1934), Taneda (1972) and Bouard
cycles. As an example, Fig. 23 shows phase-portraits. In and Coutanceau (1980). These pictures demonstrate that
addition to this, the borders of the frequency ranges show the formation of one vortex at the cylinder surface (pri-
hysteresis (Detemple 1983). Furthermore, as a general mary vortex) is connected with the simultaneous forma-
effect can be observed that the regular range of Reynolds t i o n of smaller vortices (secondary, tertiary vortex) of
numbers 50 < R e < 150 is extended at the upper end, in alternating sens of rotation. The vorticity gets its strength
the case of superposition with sound up to R e = 470. In from the flow around the cylinder. The primary vortex is
this experiments the initiation of vortex shedding at shed when strong enough. If the flow is superimposed by
R e = 50 cannot be influenced by sound, in contrast to the sound with fs <f~ro the vortex formation takes longer than
case of oscillating cylinders. The superposition by sound in the natural process. Therefore the vorticity per period
has a stabilizing and arranging effect but seems not to be is increased and can be divided in two vortices. The vor-
able to influence the vortex pair which is attached to the tex motion downstream depends on the mutually induced
cylinder at R e < 50. velocity fields. The netto circulation in the wake remains
To summarize the results, it seems that the complex of zero, while arrangements with h / l = 0 up to h / l ~ oc are
vortex formation, shedding and arrangement cannot be possible.
broken up by sound. There is no decision as to the cause In the classical K~trm~tn vortex street the pressure dis-
of vortex formation, this process can only be triggered by tribution is the decisive controlling parameter of vortex
sound. Examination of the wake - even with stroboscopic shedding. Production and transport of vorticity have a
light - shows that in the state of synchronisation, as long feed back effect on the pressure distribution which itself
as f~-<2fsro, always pairs tend to form which consist of a again effects the distribution of vorticity production.
primary and a secondary vortex "exhausting" each other Based on these assumptions it can be concluded that the
downstream. Vortex shedding itself seems to depend on sound wave exerts an influence precisely on the pressure
reaching a critical vorticity. The actual vorticity can be gradient. The superposition of sound, for instance in the
divided in several vortices, for instance resulting in the cases of synchronisation or pulling o f the shedding fre-
226
quency allows the whole process to be i n d e p e n d e n t of the
classical parameters such as cylinder d i a m e t e r and flow
velocity. The artificial beat o f vortex shedding provided
by the sound frequency leads to an increased vorticity
which can either strengthen a single vortex or be divided
into several vortices. This effect has also been observed
with the formation o f ring vortices. Despite this, there is a
limit at the low end at R e ~ 50 which has to be reached to
allow vortex shedding, this cannot be altered by sound. In
the end, the upstream, downstream and alongside the vor-
tices existing coupling together with the conditions o f
stability are responsible for the formation o f vortices in
the wake, hence the different wake structures observed.
The parallels to these results which can be drawn to
those found by C o u d e r and Basdevant (1986) in the wake
o f a longitudinally oscillatig cylinder are striking. C o u d e r
and Basdevant p r e s u m e that two single vortices are shed
from both sides o f the cylinder simultaneously and com-
bine afterwards to form a couple. In contrast to this the
results given here suggest that vortex pairs (primary and
secondary vortex) are shed from one side o f the cylinder.
G r a h a m (1980) also finds vortex pairs behind sharp-edged
cylinders in oscillatory flow. However, he presumes that
the vortices are shed alternatingly and combine to form
pairs in the near wake.
W h i c h e v e r interpretation reflects the actual reality in
this case remains u n d e c i d e d because the wake closest to
the cylinder cannot be examined. The results given here
support the conclusion that vortex pairs are shed. Accept-
ing the interpretation that the sound exerts an influence
precisely on the distribution of pressure and the sound
frequency controls the beat, production and distribution
o f vorticity are subject to this beat. Hence the vortices can
get more or less vortic.ity than in the natural case. The
actual distribution o f vorticity into the shed vortices is
responsible for the f o r m a t i o n o f the different wake struc-
tures.
5 Summary
(1) The I ~ r m & n vortex street is regarded as a nonlinear,
self-excited flow oscillator with forced oscillations. The
frequency b e h a v i o r can be described by a van-der-Pol
oscillator. The characteristic features are:
- a nonlinear beat;
- p u l l i n g of the shedding frequency of 25% m a x i m u m ;
here some special cases occur where the vortex shed-
ding frequency is pulled in such a way that it forms a
rational ratio with the sound frequency near 1/2;
- lock-in of vortex shedding on half the sound frequency
(fsr = J j / 2 ) ; the lock-in range extends over 0.27 < f~/f~ro
< 1.23, i.e. the actual vortex shedding frequency can at
the most be changed by 73%; a special condition can
occur in which there is a change between the vortex
shedding frequencies f s r = f s / G (G: the golden ratio)
Experiments in Fluids 7 (1989)
and fsr=fs/2; vortex shedding from one side o f the
cylinder with half the sound frequency is the case ob-
served most commonly (sea-horses);
- l o c k - i n of vortex shedding on the sound frequency
( f ~ r = f s ) in the range 0.77 <f~r/f~ro < 1.16 (peacock-
butterflies);
- hysteresis.
(2) In the overlapping range, corresponding to the lock-in
on the sound frequency, it cannot be predicted whether
lock-in o n f J 2 or fs will occur, with other words, which of
the wake structures for each case, either group B or group
C, will form.
(3) As a consequence o f lock-in on half the sound fre-
quency (synchronisation) parallel vortex shedding along-
side the cylinder axis occurs. The vortices are more stable
and travel further downstream, thus the length of the
vortex street, which ends when the vortices are dissipated,
is approximately doubled. The regular Reynolds n u m b e r
range 50 < Re < 150 can be extended to R e = 470. The
initiation of vortex shedding starting at the critical num-
ber Re = 50 cannot be influenced by sound.
(4) With the help o f a smoke-wire technique the wake
structures which are connected with the different lock-in
ranges are visualized. The formation of different wake
structures can be explained. D e p e n d i n g on frequency and
a m p l i t u d e o f sound, a clear identification and classifica-
tion by the frequency ratio f~/J'~o is possible.
(5) The vorticity, altered by influence of sound, can be
divided into several vortices in such a way that either a
single vortex or a p r i m a r y together with a secondary vor-
tex are shed from one side o f the cylinder.
(6) Vortex shedding remains alternating, only in the
case of the aligned vortices, at very high sound amplitudes,
the alternating vortex shedding can be suppressed.
(7) The observed wake structures show h/l-ratios from
zero (vortex string) to infinite (vortex twins).
(8) Superimposing sound, in the examined range
50 < Re < 250 the Reynolds n u m b e r is no parameter.
(9) At the b o r d e r of the regular range to the transition
range structures alongside the cylinder axis can be found
(netting-pattern).
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