Section A To be completed by the student

Student Full Name

MAHMUD AL HASSAN
Student ID Number
EAU 1015649
Lecturer Name
AMNA EL CHEIKH
Module Name and Code
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
Assignment Due date
Assignment Title

7th April 2016

Steady flow over a cylinder

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Aerospace Engineering Department Graduate Program

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
(11 Feb to 15 Feb 2016)

Project #2

Steady Flow Over A Cylinder

Done by:

Name

ID
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Mahmud Al Hassan

EAU1015649

Submitted to:
Amna El Cheikh
Due Date: April 7th , 2016

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction ...........................................................................................................4
1.1 Equations........................................................................................................4
1.2 Background.....................................................................................................4
1.3 Objectives........................................................................................................5
1.4 Theory.............................................................................................................5
1.5 Assumptions....................................................................................................5
2.0. Methods ...............................................................................................................5
2.1 Geometry.........................................................................................................5
2.2 Mesh................................................................................................................6
2.3 Named Selection and Material........................................................................7
2.4 Boundary Condition.........................................................................................7
2.5 Solution and Residuals....................................................................................7
3.0 Steady Flow...........................................................................................................8
3.0.1 Contours.......................................................................................................8
3.0.2 Pressure Contour.....................................................................................8
3.0.3 Velocity Contour...........................................................................................9
3.0.4 Velocity Vectour..........................................................................................10
3.0.5 Variation of Cp on upper and lower surface of cylinder..............................11
3.0.6 Pressure and viscous coefficients on various velocities............................12
3.0.7 Drag and Lift coefficient on various velocities............................................13
3.0.8 Discussions and Analysis...........................................................................14
3.0.9 Descrepancies between numerical and Experimental data.......................15
4.0.0 Unsteady Flow .......................................................................................................16
4.0.1 Animation...................................................................................................16
4.0.2 Variation of lift coefficient for 0.2s..............................................................16
4.0.3 Variation of lift coefficient for 1s.................................................................17
4.0.4 Pressure Contour.......................................................................................18
4.0.5 Velocity Contour.........................................................................................18
4.0.6 Discussion..................................................................................................19
5.0 Conclusion............................................................................................................18
6.0 Plots/Tables..........................................................................................................18
6.1 References and Bibliography....................................................................................18
Appendix..........................................................................................................................19
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1.0 Introduction
Regardless of experimental and numerical studies almost over few decades, flow around a
circular cylinder still remains a problem of research in fluid mechanics.
Flow around bodies such as circular cylinders are extensively used in the field of engineering.
Buildings, chimneys, cooling towers and tubes are just few examples of these applications.
This assignment aims the study of flow over a circular cylinder in a steady and unsteady stream.
1.1 Equations
The governing equations for analysis of Steady problem comprises of continuity equation,
Navier-Stokes equation (x and y components for two dimensional problem).These equations are
based on fundamental principle of conservation of mass, momentum.

The NavierStokes equations for unsteady flow

Mass conservation (continuity):

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1.2 Background
The flow past a two-dimensional cylinder is one of the most studied of aerodynamics. It is
relevant to many engineering applications. The flow pattern and the drag on a cylinder are
functions of the Reynolds number Re = UD/, based on the cylinder diameter D and the
undisturbed free-stream velocity U. The Reynolds number represents the ratio of inertial to
viscous forces in the flow. The drag is usually expressed as a coefficient C = d/(U D), where
d is the drag force per unit span.
D

1.3 Objective
The main objective of this problem analysis is to understand the flow in a 2D driven cavity in
terms of numerical, physical and mathematical aspects, along with a very brief literature review
on analytical and numerical studies.
To analyze actual fluid motion over a circular cylinder.
To analyze pressure and viscous coefficients.
To analyze lift and drag coefficients at various flow velocities.
To analyze variation of lift coefficient (cl) for time steps of 0.2s and 1s
for unsteady flow.
1.4 Theory
A circular cylindrical domain is used for this ansys simulation. The effects that the cylinder has
on the flow extend far.The outer cylindrical boundary diameter is set to be 64 times as large as
the diameter of the inner cylinder. That is, the outer boundary will be a circle with a diameter of
64 m and inner to be of 1m.
1.5 Assumptions
At a very low Reynolds number (Re < 1) the flow across a cylinder is steady and symmetrical in
both upstream and downstream. As Reynolds number increases, the upstream and downstream
symmetry disappears leading to the formation of two vortices.
2.0 Methods
Ansys 16.0 Fluent software is being used to carry out the analysis for both steady
and unsteady flow. Microsoft Excel 2013 is used to generate graphs and tables.

2.1 Geometry

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Fig 1.0 Sketch diameter of the cylinders

Fig 1.1 Schematic sketch of geometry (Ansys 16.0)

2.2 Mesh

Fig 1.2 Mesh diagram (Ansys 16.0)

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Fig 1.3 Mesh size (Ansys 16.0)

The geometry is meshed with 14400 elements. The geometry produces 14640 nodes. Mapped
face meshing and edge sizing 60 is used. Bias factor of 30 used in to increase the number of
elements located close to the inner cylinder.

2.3 Named Selections and Material Properties

Density, =1 kg/m^3 and Viscosity, = 0.05 kg/m.s.
Inlet, outlet, upper and lower

2.4 Boundary Conditions/initial conditions

A velocity inlet boundary condition. Left half of the outer boundary as a velocity inlet with a
velocity of 1 m/s in the x direction. A pressure outlet boundary condition for the right half of the
outer boundary with a gauge pressure of 0 Pa. Apply a no slip boundary condition to the cylinder
wall.

Fig 1.4 Sketch of Boundary Conditions

2.5 Solution and Residuals

3.0 Steady Case

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3.0.1 Contours
3.0.2 Pressure contour

Fig 2.0 Pressure Contour Steady case (Ansys 16.0)

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3.0.3 Velocity Contour

Fig 2.1 Velocity Contour Steady case (Ansys 16.0)

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3.0.4 Velocity vector

Fig 2.1 Velocity Vector Steady case (Ansys 16.0)

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3.0.5 Variation of the pressure coefficient on the upper and lower surfaces of the cylinder
1m/s

Variation of Pressure coefficient on upper and lower surfaces

lower

upper

Graph 1.0 Variation of the pressure coefficient on the upper and lower surfaces of the cylinder
1m/s

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3.0.6 Pressure and viscous coefficients on various velocities.

0.5m/s

Table 1.0 Variation of the pressure and viscous coefficient of the cylinder 0.5m/s
1m/s

Table 1.1 Variation of the pressure and viscous coefficient of the cylinder 1m/s
2m/s

Table 1.2 Variation of the pressure and viscous coefficient of the cylinder 2m/s

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3.0.7 Effect of drag and lift on various velocities

Drag coefficient vs Iterations

0.5 m/s
1m/s
2 m/s

Graph 1.2 Variation of the drag coefficient vs Iterations 0.5m/s,1m/s and 2m/s.

Lift Coefficient vs Iterations

0.5 m/s
1 m/s
2m/s

Graph 1.3 Variation of the lift coefficient vs Iterations 0.5m/s,1m/s and 2m/s.

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3.0.8 Discussions and Analysis

Pressure couture steady case
The flow is steady with separation of bubble behind the cylinder. Absence of net force in Y
direction.
Velocity Contour Steady case
The color representation shows the magnitude of velocity. Green represents velocity away from
the cylinder. As the velocity get closer, the color changes to blue. Fluid element particles on the
surface of the cylinder is stagnant which means velocity = 0.This phenomenon is called
a stagnation point. Stagnation point observed at the front of the cylinder and flow separation at
the rear. As the velocity magnitude increases a red color is observed, which is at the top and
bottom. Velocity along the cylindrical surface is parallel which is tangential. Velocity, and
velocity magnitude, are symmetric about a horizontal line through the center of the cylinder.
Velocity Vector Steady case
The flows are seen to be practically symmetric.
Pressure coefficient on the upper and lower surfaces of the cylinder 1m/s
Pressure coefficients along the surface of the cylinder demonstrate the effects of flow separation
on these parameters. Its seen that for both upper and lower it flows parallel, which means its
symmetric to each other.
Pressure and viscous coefficients
As the velocity increases both Pressure and Viscous coefficients increases.
Variation of the drag coefficient vs Iterations 0.5m/s,1m/s and 2m/s.
As the velocity increases the solution converges more quickly with the same number of time
steps. Number of fluctuations are less as compared to lift coefficient.
Variation of the lift coefficient vs Iterations 0.5m/s,1m/s and 2m/s.
As the velocity increases the solution converges quickly at the same time the fluctuations
increases rapidly.

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3.0.9 Discrepancy comparison between analytical and numerical solutions and explanation.
The comparison is done in relation to the study and approaches by Experimental Studies
on Flow Characteristics around Circular Cylinder in Steady and Unsteady Flow
Yeong-Bin Lee, Joo-Hyun Rho, Su-Hwan Yun, Kyu-Hong Kim and Dong-Ho Lee
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Seoul National University, Institute of Advanced Aerospace Technology
San 56-1, Shinlim-dong, Gwanak-Gu
Seoul, Republic of Korea

Graph 3.4 Cp in Steady flow (Research Paper)

Variation of Pressure coefficient on upper and lower surfaces

lower

upper

Graph 1.0 Variation of the pressure coefficient on the upper and lower surfaces of the cylinder
1m/s

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I have compared the Pressure coefficients which shows a similarity in both their and my
value

4.0.0 Unsteady Flow

We have duplicated the model keeping all parameters of geometry boundary conditions and mesh
same as steady flow over a cylinder , except changing the viscosity to 8.333x10^-3 kg/m.s.
In solution we have selected a transient system, as the initial conditions are set at t=0.
4.0.1 Animation
Fluid flow analysis aims to determine the relationship between pressure and
flow velocity by solving Equation 1, which is subject to a geometric boundary
condition, i.e., the interface surface at which a fluid contacts a solid object.
As very small uneven roughness is unavoidably distributed over the whole
surface of a solid object, fluid particles are completely captured on the solid
surface due to the viscosity of the fluid. This property of fluids leads to a very
important assumption such that a condition of zero fluid velocity (i.e., no slip)
is achieved over the whole surface of a solid object.
The fluid in the upper half of this region rotates clockwise, and the fluid in
the lower half rotates counter clockwise. This phenomenon is the result of
the so-called generation of vortices.

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4.0.2 Variation of lift co efficient with time step 0.2s

Fig 3.0 Variation of the Lift coefficient (cl) vs Flow Time for time step 0.2.
4.0.3 Variation of lift co efficient with time step 1s

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Fig 3.1 Variation of the Lift coefficient (cl) vs Flow Time for time step 1s

4.0.4 Unsteady Pressure Contour

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Fig 3.2 Pressure contour for unsteady flow

4.0.5 Unsteady Velocity Contour

Fig 3.3 Velocity contour for unsteady flow

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4.0.6 Discussion
In both cases investigated, the initial transients die down in the first few time steps and the flow
eventually reaches a periodic but statistically stationary state.
For 0.2s it becomes clear that the flow is oscillatory in nature. Cl value oscillates in between +
0.1200 and -0.1200, its seen the shedding appears earlier, it gives a better view of oscillation for
the lift co efficient.
For 1s, the curve is smooth for the lift coefficient, compared to the 0.2s where the oscillations
due to the vortex shedding.
The values can be calculated with Shrouhal number, by calculating the frequency we can
compare our results.As per observation I could read around 22 peaks per min, giving a freq of
7.54e-6,which is close to the literature value.
The pressure and velocity contour shows a turbulence which indicates an increase in Reynolds
number.
5.0 Conclusions
1. Drag forces increases with increasing the velocity of air for cylinders with fixed diameter.
2. Lift coefficient distribution about both axis (X and Y) shows that drag and lift forces
about the cylinder are each zero.
3. The flow field around the circular cylinder is presented by means of pressure and velocity
magnitude contours.
4. The variation of lift coefficient with Reynolds number is one order higher in magnitude
than variation of drag coefficient.
5. In steady flow changing the velocity shows a steady flow after a number of iterations.
6. In unsteady flow the contours represent turbulence which proves the flow to be unsteady
after few time steps.

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6.0 Tables and Plots: All plots and graphs are done along the report according to the topic
6.1 References and Bibliography
1. The comparison is done in relation to the study and approaches by Experimental Studies
on Flow Characteristics around Circular Cylinder in Steady and Unsteady Flow
Yeong-Bin Lee, Joo-Hyun Rho, Su-Hwan Yun, Kyu-Hong Kim and Dong-Ho Lee
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Seoul National University, Institute of Advanced Aerospace Technology
San 56-1, Shinlim-dong, Gwanak-Gu
Seoul, Republic of Korea
2. F. Homann, Influence of higher viscosity on flow around cylinder, Forsch. Gebiete
Ingenieur. 17 (1936) 110 .
3. C. Norberg, An experimental investigation of the flow around a circular cylinder:
influence of aspect ratio, J. Fluid Mech. 258 (1994) 287.
4. B. Kumar, S. Mittal, Prediction of the critical Reynolds number for flow past a circular
cylinder, Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng.195 (2005) 60466058.
5. H.G. Dimopoulous, T.J. Hanratty, Velocity gradients at the wall for flow around a
cylinder for Reynolds number between 60 and 360, J. Fluid Mech. 33 (1968) 303319.
6. Thom, The flow past circular cylinder at low speeds, Proc. Royal Soc. A 141 (1933) 651
669.
7. C.H.K. Williamson, A. Roshko, Measurement of base pressure in the wake of a cylinder
at low Reynolds numbers, Zeits. Flugwiss Weltraum. 14 (1990) 3846.
8. C. Norberg, Pressure forces on a circular cylinder in cross flow, in: H. Eckelmann, J.M. R
Graham, P. Huerre, P.A. Monkewitz (Eds.), Bluff-Body Wakes Dynamics and
Instabilities, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1993, pp. 275 278.
9. F.R. Hama, Three-dimensional vortex pattern behind a circular cylinder, J. Aeronaut. Sci.
24 (1957) 156.
Bibliography
Incompressible flow,Ronald L.Panton,Third Edition

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Appendix
Fig 1.0 Sketch diameter of the cylinders
Fig 1.1 Schematic sketch of geometry (Ansys 16.0)
Fig 1.2 Mesh diagram (Ansys 16.0)
Fig 1.3 Mesh size (Ansys 16.0)
Fig 1.4 Sketch of Boundary Conditions
Fig 2.0 Pressure Contour Steady case (Ansys 16.0)
Fig 2.1 Velocity Contour Steady case (Ansys 16.0)
Fig 2.1 Velocity Vector Steady case (Ansys 16.0)
Graph 1.0 Variation of the pressure coefficient on the upper and lower surfaces of the cylinder
1m/s
Table 1.0 Variation of the pressure and viscous coefficient of the cylinder 0.5m/s
Table 1.1 Variation of the pressure and viscous coefficient of the cylinder 1m/s
Table 1.2 Variation of the pressure and viscous coefficient of the cylinder 2m/s
Graph 1.2 Variation of the drag coefficient vs Iterations 0.5m/s,1m/s and 2m/s.
Graph 1.3 Variation of the lift coefficient vs Iterations 0.5m/s,1m/s and 2m/s.
Fig 3.0 Variation of the Lift coefficient (cl) vs Flow Time for time step 0.2s
Fig 3.1 Variation of the Lift coefficient (cl) vs Flow Time for time step 1s
Fig 3.2 Pressure contour for unsteady flow
Fig 3.3 Velocity contour for unsteady flow
Graph 3.4 Cp in Steady flow (Research Paper)

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