Effects of corner cuts and angles of attack on the Strouhal number of rectangular cylinders

An investigation into the effect of corner cuts on the Strouhal number of rectangular cylinders with various dimensional ratios and various angles of attack is described. The Strouhal number given as a function of corner cut size is obtained directly from the aerodynamic behavior of the body in a uniform flow through a series of wind-induced vibration tests. For a quick verification of the validity of the Strouhal numbers obtained in this way, they are compared with the approximated the Strouhal numbers based on Shiraishi's early research. The test results show that the Strouhal number of the model with various corner cuts has a fluctuating trend as the angle of attack changes. For each cutting ratio as the angle of attack increases at each cutting ratio above 15∘ , the Strouhal number decreases gradually, and these trends are more evident for larger corner cut sizes. However, a certain corner cut size which is effective in reducing the wind-induced vibration can be identified by larger Strouhal numbers than those of other corner cut sizes. Three distinct characteristics of Strouhal number variation can be identified in three regions which are termed as Region I, II, and III based on the general trend of the test results. It is also found that the corner cut is effective in one region (Region-II) and less effective in another one (Region-III) when only the vortex-induced vibration occurs.