Numerical Analysis of Flow around Rectangular Cylinders with Various Side Ratios

Three-dimensional numerical analysis of the flow around rectangular cylinders with various side ratios, D/H, from 0.2 to 2.0, was carried out for Reynolds number of 10³ by using a multi-directional finite difference method on a regular-arranged multi-grid. The predicted results are in good agreement with the experimental data. It is found that fluid dynamic characteristics of rectangular cylinders alternate between the high-pressure mode and the low-pressure mode of the base pressure for D/H=0.2-0.6. We show that this phenomenon is induced by the change of the flow pattern around rectangular cylinders.