Numerical analysis of the drag force of the flow in a square cylinder with a flat plate in front

Herein we present a numerical analysis of the drag force produced by the flow over a square cylinder with a flat plate positioned upstream thereof. The numerical model used to solve the compressible Navier-Stokes equations is based on a finite difference method, second order in time and fourth order in space. The plate height was varied from 20% to 100% the side of the square cylinder, and the distance between the plate and the cylinder was varied from 0.5 to 3.0 times the side of the cylinder. The Reynolds number was considered to be 650, based upon the side of the cylinder and the inflow speed. The numerical predictions show that, for some cases, the total drag force produced by the square cylinder and plate system is lower than that of the square cylinder only.