THE SEPARATED FLOW PAST A CYLINDER IN A ROTATING FRAME

In this paper a numerical model for the viscous flow past a cylinder in a rotating frame is discussed when both the Rossby number Ro and Ekman number E are small. The results of this model are analysed and compared to an inviscid study by Page (1987) applicable in the limit E --> O with Ro = O(E1/2). The detailed structure of the separated flow is also examined and compared to the proposals for the higher-order flow in E1/4 layers in Page (1987) which were based, in part, on the theory of Smith (1979, 1985) for the non-rotating flow past bluff bodies. Some discrepancies between this theory and the numerical results are noted.