Numerical simulation of flow around a circular cylinder with curved sectional grooves

In a circular cylinder with uniform flow, a sudden decrease in the drag force occurs at a high Reynolds numbers; however, it is known that the same phenomenon occurs at a lower Reynolds number in the case where there exist grooves or roughness on the circular cylinder surface. To clarify the flow characteristics around a circular cylinder in the case of changing the shape of grooves we analyzed the drag coefficient, lift coefficient, turbulent kinetic energy, vorticity and pressure by applying the RNGk-ε turbulent model. The shapes of the grooves were arced, triangulated and curved. The results showed that the separation point for a circular cylinder with curved sectional grooves shifts to the most downstream side and the drag coefficient becomes the smallest among circular cylinders with grooves.