Discrete vortex simulation of the separated flow around a rotating circular cylinder at high Reynolds number

Abstract

The separated flow around a rotating circular cylinder is investigated by the discrete vortex method combined with the boundary layer theory. The Keller Box method is used to solve the laminar boundary layer in order to determine the separation points on the upper and the lower sides of the rotating circular cylinder. The nascent vortices are then introduced near the separation points. A discrete circular vortex blob model, which has uniform vorticity distribution, is adopted to simulate the unsteady wake. Numerical experiments are conducted to investigate the cases in which the ratio of the speed at the cylinder surface to the speed at infinity is varied from 0 to 0.3 at a Reynolds number of 6 × 10 3. The calculated values of the separation positions, the drag and lift force coefficients, the velocuty and the pressure distribution on the cylinder surface are found to agree well with the published experimental data.