Compressibility effect on flow characteristics over a circular cylinder at Reynolds number of 3900.

The compressibility effect of flow over a circular cylinder has been investigated using wall-resolved large eddy simulation. The Reynolds number in terms of the freestream quantities and the cylinder diameter is fixed at 3900 while varying the freestream Mach number from 0.01 to 0.5. Mesh quality, numerical scheme, and subgrid-scale model are carefully verified prior to the detailed flow study. Results such as Mach number effects on the drag coefficient, the shape of the mean streamwise velocity profile in the near-wake, the length of the recirculation zone, and shear layer instability are provided. Although compressibility suppresses the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and mixing process within the shear layer, it increases the velocity fluctuation in the boundary layer and the pressure difference between the freestream and recirculation zone, which intensifies the wake oscillation, shedding amplitude, thus shortens the recirculation zone significantly with the Mach number up to 0.5. This phenomenon is different from that found in lower Reynolds number cases where the length of the recirculation zone elongates as the Mach number increases. The deficit of the velocity profile shape in the near-wake depends on the length of the recirculation zone. Furthermore, inside the wake zone and near the cylinder back wall, two pairs of recirculation bubbles emerge as the Mach number increases.