Calculation of the Mean Flow Past Circular Cylinders by Viscous-Inviscid Interaction

Abstract

A method for the calculation of the mean flow past smooth circular cylinders is presented and evaluated. It utilizes an iterative procedure that couples a boundary-layer calculation method, by which the location of separation and the displacement thickness are predicted, and a new two-parameter irrotational-flow model, which predicts the pressure distribution. The displacement effect of the boundary layer is explicitly taken into account in the irrotational-flow model. The location of separation, drag coefficient, and pressure-distribution parameters are predicted at Reynolds numbers as high as 108. The results are compared with experiments in the subcritical and the supercritical flow regimes and with empirically developed design criteria for cylindrical structures at high Reynolds numbers.