Model Based Control of Laminar Wake Using Fluidic Actuation

Control of fluid-structure interaction is of practical importance from the perspective of wake modification and reduction of vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs). The aim of this study is to design a control to suppress vortex shedding. We perform a two-dimensional simulation of the flow past a circular cylinder using a parallel Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver. We record the velocity and pressure fields over a shedding cycle and compute the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) modes of the divergence-free velocity and pressure, respectively. The Navier–Stokes equations are projected onto these POD modes to reduce the dynamical system to a set of ordinary-differential equations (ODEs). This dynamical system exhibits a limit cycle with negative linear damping and positive nonlinear damping. The reduced-order model is then modified by placing a pair of suction actuators and applying a control strategy using a control function method. We use the pressure POD mode distribution on the cylinder surface to optimally locate the actuators. We design a controller based on the linearized system and make it positively damped using pole-placement technique. The control-input settles to a constant value, suggesting constant suction through the actuators. We validate the results using CFD simulations in an open-loop setting and observe suppression of the hydrodynamic forces acting on the cylinder.