The effect of mass ratio and tether length on the flow around a tethered cylinder

A tethered cylinder may be considered an extension of the widely studied problem of a hydro-elastically mounted cylinder. Here we numerically investigate the flow past a positively buoyant tethered cylinder for a range of mass ratios and tether length ratios at a Reynolds number Re = 200. The results are found to be qualitatively similar to related experimental work performed at significantly higher Reynolds numbers. Two important findings are related in this paper. First, we find that the action of the tethered cylinder oscillating at an angle to the flow induces a mean lift coefficient. Second, a critical mass ratio (m*crit) is found below which large-amplitude oscillations are noted, similar to that previously reported for the case of a hydro-elastically mounted cylinder. For short tether lengths, (m*crit) is significantly greater than that found for a hydro-elastically mounted cylinder. As the tether length increases, the (m*crit) decreases and asymptotes to that of a hydro-elastically mounted cylinder as the tether length approaches infinity.