Symmetry in Fluid Mechanics

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "C: Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 1583

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Departamento de Aeronáutica, Instituto de Estudios Avanzados en Ingeniería y Tecnología (IDIT), FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and CONICET, Córdoba 5000, Argentina
Interests: fluid mechanics, gas dynamics, nonlinear and chaotic dynamics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fluid mechanics is a branch of physics that examines different types of fluid flows, including incompressible, compressible, Newtonian, non-Newtonian, multiphase, chemically reactive, high-enthalpy, combustion, detonation, magnetohydrodynamics, and convective flows, among others.

The presence or absence of symmetry significantly influences many fluid processes.

Symmetry can manifest at both the time and space levels. The investigation of symmetry in fluid mechanics often involves interdisciplinary applications across various fields, including aerospace, mechanical, chemical, industrial engineering, etc.

This Special Issue aims to present contributions on recent developments related to symmetry and asymmetry in fluid mechanics across all scientific and engineering disciplines.

Prof. Dr. Sergio Elaskar
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • nonlinear dynamics
  • fluid mechanics
  • theoretical and experimental advances
  • applications
  • symmetry and asymmetry

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

40 pages, 16240 KB  
Article
Flow Interference Between Two Tandem Square Cylinders: Passive Control Using a Downstream Flat Plate
by Sarath R S, R Ajith Kumar and K Suresh Kumar
Symmetry 2026, 18(7), 1162; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym18071162 - 9 Jul 2026
Viewed by 394
Abstract
Flow interference among bluff bodies can strongly amplify or suppress unsteady aerodynamic forces and induced vibrations thereof. However, the behaviour of tandem square-cylinder interference and its passive control in the laminar regime remains insufficiently quantified, particularly near the known critical tandem spacing ratio [...] Read more.
Flow interference among bluff bodies can strongly amplify or suppress unsteady aerodynamic forces and induced vibrations thereof. However, the behaviour of tandem square-cylinder interference and its passive control in the laminar regime remains insufficiently quantified, particularly near the known critical tandem spacing ratio (L/D ≈ 4.5). This study systematically analysed and determined how a splitter plate placed downstream of the second cylinder modulates the aerodynamic forces, symmetry of vortex shedding, wake topology, and associated wake metrics in two-dimensional incompressible laminar flows. Unsteady finite-volume numerical simulations were conducted using ANSYS Fluent (2022 R1) at Re = 150. The tandem cylinder spacing (L) was varied over L/D = 2–6 (D, the cylinder side length), and the splitter gap (G) was varied over G/D = 1–6. The splitter plate acted as a strong wake stabiliser at small gaps (G/D = 1), where vortex shedding was largely suppressed and lift fluctuations were minimal (for example, Cl,rms ≈ 0.055), and the DC experienced negative drag (Cd ≈ −0.13), consistent with elongated and weakly rolled-up shear layers and extended recirculation. The splitter plate acted as a sharp control “switch” at a critical splitter gap G/D ≈ 2, where the wake transitioned to unsteady shedding, the Strouhal number (St) jumped to values that remained nearly constant for G/D = 2–6, and the wake metrics indicated earlier roll-up (reduced vortex formation length and recirculation length) and greater lateral spreading (increased wake width). The outcome was influenced by the tandem regimes: for 1.5 < L/D < 4, persistent shielding and negative downstream drag predominated. However, near the critical gap (L/D ≈ 4.5), the restoration of shear-layer impingement at G/D ≥ 2 resulted in a downstream drag surpassing the isolated-cylinder baseline (Cd,SC ≈ 1.49) by approximately 3–8%. In the co-shedding regime, when L/D = 5, there was a notable increase in drag, approximately 12.3% more than that on an isolated cylinder. Conversely, when L/D = 6, the system approached aerodynamic independence without any amplification (approaching the single-cylinder value). The interference metrics showed a maximum combined drag reduction of ~68.6% at L/D = 4.5 and G/D = 1, whereas the upstream cylinder drag was only weakly affected. The results of the present study establish splitter placement as an effective passive control method for suppressing or recovering interference-driven unsteadiness, thereby supporting designs in bluff-body aerodynamics, heat-transfer equipment, and vibration-mitigation systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Symmetry in Fluid Mechanics)
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32 pages, 1559 KB  
Article
Axisymmetric Gravity-Driven Slender Free-Surface Flow Down a Cone
by Rodrigo González and Aldo Tamburrino
Symmetry 2026, 18(3), 513; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym18030513 - 17 Mar 2026
Viewed by 549
Abstract
This article presents the results of a study on an axisymmetric gravity-driven slender free-surface flow down a cone by deriving depth-averaged conservation equations on a cone-adapted coordinate system and obtaining a backwater-type differential equation for steady, axisymmetric films with prescribed apex discharge. Analysis [...] Read more.
This article presents the results of a study on an axisymmetric gravity-driven slender free-surface flow down a cone by deriving depth-averaged conservation equations on a cone-adapted coordinate system and obtaining a backwater-type differential equation for steady, axisymmetric films with prescribed apex discharge. Analysis of this equation reveals a location-dependent critical condition separating supercritical and subcritical regimes and shows that a classical constant normal depth does not exist; instead, the flow approaches an equilibrium between gravity and resistance forces as it develops downstream. Asymptotic expansions for the flow and critical depths recover previously established results for the laminar leading-order and first-order corrections under consistent velocity shape coefficients, confirming that capillarity affects only first-order terms. The framework predicts a critical length beyond which the flow must be subcritical, Reynolds number decays inversely with the distance, leading to inevitable relaminarization on sufficiently long cones, and the potential need for hydraulic jumps to compatibilize supercritical and subcritical flow regimes, paralleling open-channel hydraulics on mild slopes. Numerical solutions of the backwater equation agree with existing measurements where the slender-film assumptions hold, providing a practical basis to compute flow depth and regime transitions on conical surfaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Symmetry in Fluid Mechanics)
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