Experimental Investigations of Flow Past Axially-Aligned Cylinders

Turbulent flow past spinning cylinders whose axis is aligned with the mean flow is investigated experimentally. Such flows are of common occurrence in projectiles, missiles and munitions and the modeling and the prediction of flow field is crucial for effective design. The objective of this study is to examine the flow over the cylinders and in their wakes to characterize the flow field and the flow separation to provide a better understanding of the force field over the cylinders. The experiments were conducted at Reynolds numbers of 60,000 and 100,000 with rotation numbers of up to 2 (based on cylinder diameter). Time-averaged mean flow and turbulence profiles in the wake flow are presented with and without spin along with comparison to published experimental data. The results are compared with the available data in the literature.