Numerical Investigation of Laminar Flow past a Rotating Cylinder

The numerical investigation of laminar flow past a rotating cylinder under different Reynolds numbers is conducted by using the CFD method. The characteristics of wake vortex, lift coefficient, drag coefficient and Strouhal number at different rotation rates, have been analyzed. With the increase of rotation rate, five vortex formations (vortex shedding formation, steady wake formation, reversed steady wake formation, single vortex formation and cloth formation) are identified. The mean lift coefficient first increases parabolically and then increases linearly, the mean drag coefficient decreases, and then increases with the increase of rotation rate. The Strouhal number decreases with the increase of rotation rate, and the values for Strouhal number in the second instability stage are much smaller than those in the first instability stage. With the increase of Reynolds number, the end of the first instability stage moves backward and the generated range of the second instability moves forward. © 2022, Editorial Board of Journal of Ship Mechanics. All right reserved.