Numerical investigation on the effect of bionic fish swimming on the vortex-induced vibration of a tandemly arranged circular cylinder

The effect of bionic fish swimming on the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a circular cylinder arranged in tandem at a low Reynolds number of 150 is numerically investigated in this work. The bionic fish placed upstream of the cylinder with gap ratios of 1, 3, and 5 and that located downstream of the cylinder with gap ratios of 3 and 5 are examined in the simulations that were carried out in the reduced velocity range of Ur = 2–15. It is found that both the gap ratio and the reduced velocity have a significant influence on the VIV response and wake flow structure. When the bionic fish is placed upstream, the maximum response amplitude of the downstream cylinder is much greater than that of an isolated one. Two flow regimes are identified in terms of the shear layer reattachment, i.e., the continuous reattachment and the alternate reattachment. Comparing the vortex shedding frequencies of the cylinder and the swimming fish, it is found that the frequency of the cylinder is always locked in the fish swimming frequency, and multiple frequencies occur at Ur = 5. When the bionic fish is arranged downstream, four flow regimes are observed, including the extended-body, continuous reattachment, alternate attachment, and co-shedding regimes. Furthermore, the time-mean energy transfer coefficient of the cylinder is considerably higher at Ur = 5 than that when the fish is placed upstream of the cylinder.