Numerical Simulation of the Flow Around a Cylinder

Abstract

The work carried out consisted of the analysis of the flow around a cylinder using a numerical technique based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), a relatively recent numerical calculation technique. Contrary to the traditional approaches of numerical simulation of the dynamics of the fluids (CFD) which consist in solving the equations of Navier-Stokes, the method used assimilates the fluid to fictitious particles. The equations are then solved for those particles which perform successive propagations and collisions in a mesh. This technique has been successfully applied for flows in porous media and for multiphase flows, in intensive computing. These simulations were carried out using a free code, Palabos, based on Linux. For a grip of the code and a validation of the method applied, the calculations were first applied to a cylinder placed in a two-dimensional then three-dimensional domain, for a laminar flow then for a turbulent flow represented by a large-scale simulation model (LES, Large Eddy Simulation).