Numerical simulation of an axisymmetric separated and reattached flow over a longitudinal blunt circular cylinder

This article presents a numerical investigation of turbulent flow in an axisymmetric separated and reattached flow over a longitudinal blunt circular cylinder. The governing equations were discretized by the finite-volume method and SIMPLER method was applied to solve the equations on a staggered grid. The turbulent flow was numerically simulated using the standard k–ε, Abe–Kondoh–Nagano (AKN) and Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence models. The comparisons made between numerical results and experimental measurements showed that the SST model is superior to other models in the present calculation. ations were performed for three different Reynolds numbers of 6000, 10 000 and 20 000 based on the cylinder diameter. To our knowledge, this study represents the first numerical investigation of the present flow configuration. The computational results were validated with the available experimental data of reattachment length, mean velocity distribution and wall static pressure coefficient in the turbulent blunt circular cylinder flows. Further, other characteristics of the flow, such as turbulent kinetic energy, pressure, streamlines, and the velocity vectors are discussed. sults show that the main characteristics of the turbulence flow in the separation region, such as reattachment length or velocity profiles, are nearly independent of the Reynolds number. The obtained results showed that a secondary separation bubble may appear in the main separation bubble near the leading edge. Furthermore, it was found that the turbulent kinetic energy has a large effect on the formation of the secondary bubble.