Three-dimensional simulation of flow past a circular cylinder by nonlinear turbulence model

Numerical simulation of flow past a circular cylinder at sub-critical Reynolds number Re = 3,900 is performed using three-dimensional, unsteady, Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations. A nonlinear turbulence model based on the k-epsilon formulation is used to achieve the turbulent closure. The results obtained by the simulations are compared with experimental and previously reported numerical results. The grid used for the present simulation is reasonable, and the accuracy obtained is good considering the computational cost involved in carrying out large-eddy simulations (LES) for the same test case. The test flow is also simulated using standard k-epsilon model, and the results obtained by the nonlinear k-e model are found to be better.