Drag Force on a Cylinder

Analysis Characteristics

Reference

White, F. M., “Fluid Mechanics,” McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1979, pp. 283-285.

Problem Description

For this case, we simulate air flowing past a circular cylinder. Using the Autodesk Simulation CFD-calculated forces, we then compute the drag coefficient and compare it to data from the Reference.

For a cylinder, the drag coefficient is calculated using:

where L is the cylinder length and d is the cylinder diameter.

Geometry and Boundary Conditions

L = 20 inches (A symmetric geometry is used)

d = 1.0 inches.

The cylinder is surrounded by a box that is 10 inches from the end of the cylinder and 20 inches above, below, on the inlet and on the outlet ends.

Results

The Reynolds number (based on the cylinder diameter) is 105. The drag coefficient is calculated from the drag force:

  Benchmark 2013: Build 20120131 % Error 2014: Build 20130102 % Error
Re=10^5 CD = 0.91 0.951 4.563 0.928 2.007