Special Issue: Flow Control and Thermal Management

Numerical simulation of flow past a sphere with near‑wall effect controlled by electro-magnetic force

  • Shipei FENG ,
  • Weiguang YAO ,
  • Hui ZHANG
Expand
  • National Key Laboratory of Transient Physics,Nanjing University of Science and Technology,Nanjing 210094,China

Received date: 2026-02-12

  Revised date: 2026-03-16

  Accepted date: 2026-04-15

  Online published: 2026-04-20

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China(12372269)

Abstract

With the near-wall effect, the variations of the flow field structure of flow around a sphere at a Reynolds number of Re=300 with wall distance are numerically investigated. The electro-magnetic force control coupled with the near-wall effect is further studied and discussed. The results demonstrate that when the sphere is far from the wall (gap ratio G/D6), the near-wall effect can be neglected on the wake structures of the sphere. As the gap ratio G/D decreases, the near-wall effect is gradually enhanced, the hairpin vortex structures in the wake of the sphere rotate 180° clockwise as a whole, the vortex legs are gradually thinned, and then turn into a double-line vortex structure. The lift force gradually decreases from a positive value to zero and then to a negative value. The direction of the lift force is gradually changed from pointing away from the wall to pointing toward the wall. In addition, for the case where the sphere is at a gap ratio G/D=1.4, electro-magnetic force control in different directions is performed. With the application of a positive electro-magnetic force, the wall effect blocks the acceleration effect of the flow field by the electro-magnetic force. This leads to the pressure on the lower side of the sphere larger than that on the upper side, thereby directing the lift force away from the wall. With the application of a negative electro-magnetic force, the wall effect blocks the deceleration effect of the flow field by the electro-magnetic force. This leads to the pressure on the lower side of the sphere smaller than that on the upper side, thereby directing the lift force toward the wall.

Cite this article

Shipei FENG , Weiguang YAO , Hui ZHANG . Numerical simulation of flow past a sphere with near‑wall effect controlled by electro-magnetic force[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2026 , 47(13) : 533507 -533507 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2026.33507

References

[1] 马志明, 张鑫. 低雷诺数下基于等离子体激励的大展弦比机翼绕流流场控制[J]. 航空学报202647(5): 132359.
  MA Z M, ZHANG X. Flow field control over a high-aspect-ratio wing using a plasma actuator at low Reynolds number[J]. Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica202647 (5): 132359 (in Chinese).
[2] JOHNSON T A, PATEL V C. Flow past a sphere up to a Reynolds number of 300[J]. Journal of Fluid Mechanics1999378: 19-70.
[3] PELEGRINI M F. Flow past a sphere at moderate Reynolds numbers[J]. Physics of Fluids202234(11): 113605.
[4] WU J, SHU C. An improved immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method for simulating three-dimensional incompressible flows[J]. Journal of Computational Physics2010229(13): 5022-5042.
[5] COCETTA F, GILLARD M, SZMELTER J, et al. Stratified flow past a sphere at moderate Reynolds numbers[J]. Computers & Fluids2021226: 104998.
[6] GRIONI M, ELASKAR S, MIRASSO A E. Numerical simulation of flow around circular cylinder near a plane wall: Effects of wall proximity, boundary layer and Reynolds number[J]. South Florida Journal of Development20234(5): 2099-2113.
[7] JIANG H, JU X, GUO Z, et al. Turbulent wake characteristics for a circular cylinder in proximity to a moving wall[J]. Journal of Fluid Mechanics2024983: A18.
[8] TEE Y H, LONGMIRE E K. Effect of fluid motions on finite spheres released in turbulent boundary layers[J]. Journal of Fluid Mechanics2024985: A28.
[9] ZHU J, HOLMEDAL L E, MYRHAUG D, et al. Near-wall effect on flow around an elliptic cylinder translating above a plane wall[J]. Physics of Fluids202032: 093607.
[10] LI J H, WANG B F, QIU X, et al. Near-wall effect on vortex dynamics in the flow around a rectangular cylinder[J]. Journal of Fluid Mechanics20251011: A21.
[11] WU Z P, LI B W, CHEN W, et al. Numerical simulation analysis of flow around near-wall rotating cylinder[J]. Physics of Fluids202436(8): 083608.
[12] HOUDROGE F, ZHAO J, TERRINGTONS, et al. Fluid-structure interaction of a sphere rolling along an inclined plane[J]. Journal of Fluid Mechanics2023962: A43.
[13] ASHILL P. Flow control: Passive, active, and reactive flow management[J]. The Aeronautical Journal2001105(1045): 150.
[14] GAILITIS A, LIELAUSIS O. On a possibility to reduce the hydrodynamic resistance of a plate in an electrolyte[J]. Applied Magnetohydrodynamics196112: 143-146.
[15] HENOCH C, STACE J. Experimental investigation of a salt water turbulent boundary layer modified by an applied streamwise magnetohydrodynamic body force[J]. Physics of Fluids19957(6): 1371-1383.
[16] KIM S J, LEE C M. Investigation of the flow around a circular cylinder under the influence of an electro-magnetic force[J]. Experiments in Fluids200028(3): 252-260.
[17] KIM S J, LEE C M. Control of flows around a circular cylinder: suppression of oscillatory lift force[J]. Fluid Dynamics Research200129(1): 47-63.
[18] CHEN Z, AUBRY N. Active control of cylinder wake[J]. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation200510(2): 205-216.
[19] ZHANG H, LIU M K, HAN Y, et al. Suppression mechanism of two-degree-of-freedom vortex-induced vibration by Lorentz forces in the uniform flow[J]. Computers & Fluids2017159: 112-122.
[20] YAO W G, ZHANG H, JIANG D W, et al. Mode transformations of vortex shedding behind a sphere with the effect of Lorentz force[J]. Physics of Fluids202133(12): 123601.
[21] YAO W G, ZHANG H, JIANG D W, et al. Drag reduction and optimization on a sphere with the effect of Lorentz force[J]. Ocean Engineering2023280: 114836.
[22] ARIBA Y, GOUAISBAUT F. A singular perturbation approach for the control of electro-magnetic actuators[J]. IFAC-PapersOnLine202356(2): 6057-6062.
[23] KUMAR A, DAS S P, TIWARI S. Wall effect on the wake characteristics of a transversely rotating sphere[J]. Physics of Fluids202436(1): 013611.
[24] JEONG J, HUSSAIN F. On the identification of a vortex[J]. Journal of Fluid Mechanics1995285: 69-94.
Outlines

/