A Numerical Study of Vortex Shedding From One and Two Circular Cylinders

Summary A discrete-vortex representation of the wake of a circular cylinder, in which vortices are convected in a potential-flow calculation and maintain their identities unless they approach one another or a surface closely, predicts many of the unsteady flow features and is computationally more efficient than other schemes. The mean rate of shedding of vorticity is adjusted to be compatible with experiments at a high subcritical Reynolds number of 3 × 104 and the model gives reasonable predictions of separation, drag, lift, Strouhal number and vorticity loss in the formation region. The method is extended to accommodate a second cylinder and many of the surprising features which have been observed experimentally with two cylinders in a side-by-side arrangement are reproduced.