Corner cutting effect on the wind flow around a square cylinder in smooth flow studied by LES

It will be helpful to further understand the mechanism of wind effects on the corner cutting cylinders by investigating the wind flows under different inflow wind angles of attack. In this study, a large eddy simulation method was adopted to study the effect of corner cutting on the aerodynamic performance of a square cylinder in smooth flow. The numerical method and parameter settings were first verified by comparing the simulation results of the square cylinder without corner cutting with previous experimental and numerical results. Then, the effect of corner cutting on the aerodynamic performance of the square cylinder was analysed by comparing the wind pressure distribution and the aerodynamic forces. The corner cutting modification of the square cylinder will significantly supress the development of the aerodynamic forces. Compared with the standard square cylinder, the Strouhal number decreases about 1.48 times under wind angle with 0°. Comparison to the standard square cylinder showed that similar three flow patterns can also be observed around the corner cutting square cylinder, albeit with different ranges of the incidence angle for each flow pattern. When corner cutting is adopted, the flow separation position moves downstream, and the separated shear layer approaches the cylinder and is more prone to reattachment on the lateral surface, resulting in a narrow wake flow and reducing the strength of vortex shedding. This is the main origin of the decrease in the aerodynamic coefficient of the corner cutting square cylinder and the flow field mechanism that leads to an increase in the Strouhal number.