Theoretical Calculations of the Flow Around a Rotating Circular Cylinder Placed in a Uniform Flow

Abstract

The rotation of a circular cylinder placed in a uniform flow is assumed to add a circulation to the flow around the cylinder proportional to the product of the angular velocity of the cylinder and the front area between upper and lower separation points. Adding the velocity due to this induced circulation to the base velocity distribution of the non-rotating cylinder the new velocity distribution on the rotating cylinder is formed. Thwaites’ method is then used to calculate the laminar boundary layer on the upper and on the lower sides of the cylinder. The stagnation point, and the upper and lower separation points are also calculated at different values of rotational speed. The calculated lift and drag coefficients using a linear pressure distribution on the wake part of the cylinder with the calculated pressure dstribution on the front part between the two separation points show the same trend as the measured values. The torque coefficient is also calculated to estimate the necessary power required to rotate the cylinder to produce the needed lift.