TY - JOUR
T1 - Separation and free-streamline flows in a rotating fluid at low Rossby number
AU - Page, Michael A.
PY - 1987/1/1
Y1 - 1987/1/1
N2 - The flow past a circular cylinder in a rotating frame is examined when the Rossby number Ro is O(E½), where E is the Ekman number. Previous studies of the configuration have shown that, provided the ratio Ro/E½is less than a certain critical value, the flow around the cylinder is determined by the classical potential-flow solution. However, once Ro/E½ is greater than that critical value the E½layer on the surface of the cylinder, which is rather like a boundary layer in a high-Reynolds-number non-rotating fluid, can separate from the cylinder and distort the potential flow. In this study the form of the flow once separation has occurred is examined using a method analogous to the Kirchhoff free-streamline theory in a non-rotating fluid. The results are compared with published experimental and numerical data on the flow for various values of Ro/E½.
AB - The flow past a circular cylinder in a rotating frame is examined when the Rossby number Ro is O(E½), where E is the Ekman number. Previous studies of the configuration have shown that, provided the ratio Ro/E½is less than a certain critical value, the flow around the cylinder is determined by the classical potential-flow solution. However, once Ro/E½ is greater than that critical value the E½layer on the surface of the cylinder, which is rather like a boundary layer in a high-Reynolds-number non-rotating fluid, can separate from the cylinder and distort the potential flow. In this study the form of the flow once separation has occurred is examined using a method analogous to the Kirchhoff free-streamline theory in a non-rotating fluid. The results are compared with published experimental and numerical data on the flow for various values of Ro/E½.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0023364432&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0022112087001472
DO - 10.1017/S0022112087001472
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0023364432
SN - 0022-1120
VL - 179
SP - 155
EP - 177
JO - Journal of Fluid Mechanics
JF - Journal of Fluid Mechanics
ER -